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Bobby Bare Jr. wants to make something very clear: Undefeated, his latest long-player isn’t a “breakup record”; it’s a “getting dumped” record. Written and composed following the parting with the mother of his youngest son, the record documents the end of a relationship, one that didn’t end on mutual terms. Over the course of the album’s 10 tracks, Bare deftly bounces around stylistically, balancing power pop, R&B, country, Krautrock, and full-bore rock ‘n’ roll, but lyrically he stays put, focusing on the collapse of the relationship, ruminating on what he calls “the ugly parts.” Growing up the son of Country Music Hall of Famer Bobby Bare and backing vocalist Jeannie Bare, he once lived next door to George Jones and Tammy Wynette. In his youth, Bare was mentored by Shel Silverstin, and he learned the value of keeping it honest — even it means exposing more than is comfortable. “If you’re a stripper and you don’t show your ugly parts, people aren’t going to be very interested in what you’re doing,” Bare says. “You have to do that. Everybody can see it a mile away when someone gets up on stage to just let the pretty stuff shine, you know?” Luckily for the listener, Bare balances the drama with gallows humor. “I jokingly say when I do shows that I’ve been in Nashville writing the most miserable songs of my life in the hope and dream of coming to your town and bumming everyone the fuck out.”
