Anyone hoping that
Hank Williams III's "Hellbilly" metal band Assjack would finally make it onto one of his albums is still out of luck, but
Hank III's third solo effort Straight to Hell comes close to getting their no-quarter spirit onto plastic, if not their sound. Taking the no-frills hard-country sound of 2002's
Lovesick, Broke & Driftin' as a starting point, Straight to Hell pumps a good bit more darkness into the mix; mostly recorded at home on a digital portastudio, Straight to Hell begins with a sample of
the Louvin Brothers' "Satan Is Real" interrupted by a burst of demonic laughter, which then segues into the title tune, a testimony to a life of cheap thrills and dangerous living that sounds like a classic string band rounding the corners at 90-miles-an-hour with empty bottles of bourbon propping open the windows. A similar mix of old-school country and chemically-fueled rebellion run through songs like "Pills I Took" and "Smoke and Wine," and even the less menacing tunes like "My Drinking Problem" and "Angel of Sin" boast too much swagger and grit to fit comfortably on the radio next to
Toby Keith or
Gretchen Wilson. While
Hank III's self-mythologizing outlaw stance is not entirely unlike that of his father, there's a crazier and more sinister energy to Straight to Hell than
Bocephus King has ever conjured up on record, and numbers like "Country Heroes" and "D. Ray White" eloquently testify to his notion that bad craziness is a long and rich tradition along the margins of Nashville. (He also has a few things to say about
Hank Jr. hanging out with
Kid Rock on "Not Everybody Likes Us" to confirm he's most certainly not turning into his dad.) The album's most extreme departure point, however, is the bonus audio collage "Louisiana Stripes," which combines a handful of high-lonesome tunes with layers of ambient noise, bits of found dialogue, dub-wise echo and reverb effects, stray telephone messages, and sound effects ranging from thunderstorms to gurgling bong water. There's a pure and soulful musical vision at the heart of Straight to Hell no matter how much
Hank III lashes out against the confines of current country music and messes with the form, and that's what makes him most valuable as an outlaw -- there's lots of long-haired dope-smoking rednecks out there, but not many than can tap into the sweet and dirty heart of American music the way
Hank III does, and Straight to Hell proves he's got a whole lot to say on that particular subject. Consumers note: The "clean" version of Straight to Hell not only bleeps out foul language on several numbers, but also drops two songs that appear on the "Explicit Content" stickered version, "Crazed Country Rebel" and "Dick in Dixie," which means less-easily offended fans are getting more music for their money. ~ Mark Deming