Redneck Punk Rock

Adam Hoffoss (Bass & Back-Up Vocals), Kiley Bland (Lead Vocals & Guitar), Steve Cox (Drums & Back-Up Vocals)

Imagine a dark, smokey bar with a bunch of drunk

guys with crew cuts and mullets, chugging Budweisers, and hootin’ and hollerin’ at a NASCAR race on TV, going nuts whenever a driver careens into another car and they both go spinning off into a wall. That’s the stereotypical type of southern scenario that Junior makes you picture when listening to their exciting debut album Are We Famous Yet?, especially when you hear a song like “NASCAR Man.”

But just because this band from Gladewater, Texas has a very southern point of view does not mean that their music isn’t accessible us yanks. Well, technically I’m a southerner being from the Maryland area, but I have grand delusions of being a northern boy. Anyway, Junior sounds a lot like the wave of popular punk rock bands from the 90’s (i.e. Rancid, Green Day, and the Offspring), so their songs are definitely pumped up on adrenaline and are a lot of fun to listen to. And based on the lyrics in their songs and a news report about the band, it sounds like they’re parodying all of the white, southern stereotypes by overdoing them. In fact, they’re music could be jokingly referred to as rednexploitation. The song title “NASCAR Title” gives away the band’s whole shtick all by itself.

But I knew that I was going to enjoy Are We Famous Yet? all the way through when I popped in the CD and the chorus of first track, “What Was I Thinking,” went “What was I thinking when I / got so drunk I shaved my head, / and threw up on my best friend’s bed.” I knew the whole album would be a bunch of retardedly fun songs that would be great for a party with lots of people all drinking tons of alcohol. And the album gets even better with “The Burger Queen” just because it’s so damn silly. The song is about a guy who works at Burger King and falls in love with a girl who works at Dairy Queen. Just that concept is a really horrible pun, and I’m a fan of good bad puns. And it screams of a stereotypical redneck, working class love story.

Just to break Junior’s music down really simply, it’s simple, fun punk rock. The whole album is something good to get drunk to with a bunch of your friends, especially if you’re watching NASCAR. If you’re having a frat party below the Mason-Dixon Line, or even above it, play Are We Famous Yet? for good times.

Purchase Are We Famous Yet? by Junior

Junior – What Was I Thinking
Junior – The Burger Queen
Junior – NASCAR Man