Don’t let the title fool you (we all know what a smart-ass Robbie can be), this was all unreleased material!!! Some of it was old, some of it was new, some of it was borrowed, and some of it was blue (if you know what we mean). There are brand new songs (recorded with Steve Albini), a demo or two, a couple of live cuts, some soundtrack weirdness, a couple of things left off his first two Bloodshot albums, and a killer duet with Kelly Willis (“Parallel Bars”).
This album is yet another example of Robbie's freakish dexterity with all manners of musical styles. “Jean Arthur” and “That Bangle Girl” (a love song to Susanna Hoffs and about the catchy as they come) are sunny, country-inflected power pop, and “Sleeping on the Job of Love” and “May the Best Man Win” hit the honky tonk sweet spot of ace-in-the-hole musicianship and wicked-smart lyricism. Had it with the claustrophobic boosterism of your roots scene? Then “Roots Rock Weirdos” is for you. And “Love Ain't Nothin'” (“they say love's for the stupid and the poor…”), well, what can we add to that?
Features appearances from most of Robbie's favorite co-horts including The Skeletons and bluegrass icons Special Consensus, and some homey cover art by Chicago's own country music cartoonist, Heather McAdams.