Let's Kill Saturday Night

Let's Kill Saturday Night
Studio album by
Robbie Fulks
ReleasedSeptember 15, 1998
GenreCountry, rock and roll, folk-pop
LabelGeffen
ProducerRick Will, Robbie Fulks
Robbie Fulks chronology
South Mouth
(1997) 		Let's Kill Saturday Night
(1998) 		The Very Best of Robbie Fulks
(2000)

Let's Kill Saturday Night is the third album by the American musician Robbie Fulks, released on September 15, 1998.[1][2] Fulks supported the album with a North American tour.[3] The title track had previously been recorded by 5 Chinese Brothers.[4]

Production

Recorded in Nashville, the album was produced by Rick Will and Fulks.[5] Fulks was interested in moving beyond confining alternative country labels.[6] His songwriting was in part influenced by Elvis Costello.[7] Fulks was unhappy with how the album was sequenced.[5] "Little King" was written in 1989.[8] Al Anderson sang on "You Shouldn't Have".[9] "Night Accident" is about a man trapped in a car that is about to be hit by a train; it was inspired by an incident from Fulks's childhood.[10][6] "God Isn't Real" is a defense of atheism; Fulks noted that people would occasionally leave his concerts when he played the song.[11][12] Fulks duetted with Lucinda Williams on "Pretty Little Poison".[13] "Can't Win for Losing You" is propelled by pedal steel guitar.[14] "Take Me to the Paradise" is about an artists' restaurant and bar.[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
The Atlanta ConstitutionB[16]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[17]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[18]
The Hamilton Spectator[19]
The Independent[20]
The Indianapolis Star[21]
Lincoln Journal Star[14]
The Ottawa Citizen[13]
Philadelphia Daily NewsB[22]
USA Today[23]

The Village Voice noted that the title track "has become a standard, one of those wistful odes to a dead end that makes the hair stand up."[24] USA Today opined that "Fulks' songwriting may be uneven, but his vision is consistently bleak."[23] The Hamilton Spectator said that the album "still finds him dipping into wells previously excavated by the Louvin Brothers and Tex Williams, although a good half of the record's 13 songs land squarely in rock and roll territory."[19] The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the album "both derivative and eclectic, a flow of restrained Nashville studio craft that occasionally bumps into whimsical folk-pop of a high order."[9] Robert Christgau praised "Pretty Little Poison" and "God Isn't Real".[25]

The Independent labeled the album "a storming rustic rocker."[20] The Indianapolis Star said that the "strong pop ballads ... show off vocal stylings reminiscent of Marshall Crenshaw and Freedy Johnston."[21] The Atlanta Constitution concluded that "there's plenty of old-line C&W stylizing ... but the fun comes with the distorted guitars of 'Caroline' and the Byrdsian jangle of 'She Must Think That I Like Poetry'."[16] The Philadelphia Daily News noted that "Fulks is a subtle lyricist, leaving room for varied interpretation".[22] The New York Times stated that "Fulks's narrators aren't country's regular Joes ... woman trouble often drives them to a vindictive bitterness that verges on psychosis."[26] Rolling Stone opined that the album "exhibits a weighty self-consciousness with little of its predecessors' spry, whimsical bite."[27]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Let's Kill Saturday Night" 
2."Caroline" 
3."Pretty Little Poison" 
4."She Must Think I Like Poetry" 
5."Bethelridge" 
6."Take Me to the Paradise" 
7."Little King" 
8."You Shouldn't Have" 
9."God Isn't Real" 
10."Down in Her Arms" 
11."Can't Win for Losing You" 
12."Night Accident" 
13."Stone River" 

References

  1. ^ Wolff, Kurt (2000). Country Music: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 566.
  2. ^ Bell, Carrie (August 22, 1998). "Music explosion: Fall-Winter release sked blows up big". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 34. p. 51.
  3. ^ Perry, Jan (October 1, 1998). "Big sounds and dance at the clubs". The Cincinnati Post. p. 13.
  4. ^ Bledsoe, Wayne (October 30, 1998). "Robbie Fulks combines country, rock for a wide range of musicality". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. T10.
  5. ^ a b Gettelman, Parry (October 23, 1998). "Fulks Can Pick a Winner". Calendar. Orlando Sentinel. p. 8.
  6. ^ a b Orazi, Deborah (October 23, 1998). "With Third Album, Fulks Mines a Little More Rock". Ticket. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. p. 10.
  7. ^ Kot, Greg (October 18, 1998). "Unplain Fulks". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  8. ^ Masley, Ed (September 25, 1998). "Fulks: Rock Country Singer Goes Deeper Than the Normal Nashville Fare". Arts & Entertainment. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 26.
  9. ^ a b Carter, Nick (September 18, 1998). "National country-folk singer-songwriter Robbie Fulks...". Cue. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. p. 12.
  10. ^ Guarino, Mark (September 25, 1998). "Fulks is dead-on with third album caption". Time Out. Daily Herald. Arlington Heights. p. 4.
  11. ^ Moon, Tom (October 2, 1998). "Sounding country, Folk, Contemporary Notes". Features Weekend. The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 19.
  12. ^ "Potpourri". The Charleston Gazette. December 7, 1998. p. 4A.
  13. ^ a b Blanchfield, Mike (October 24, 1998). "Rock". The Ottawa Citizen. p. E11.
  14. ^ a b Moser, Daniel R. (October 23, 1998). "Disappointing CD". Ground Zero. Lincoln Journal Star. p. 21.
  15. ^ Smith, RJ (October 1998). "Combat Rock". Spin. Vol. 14, no. 10. p. 63.
  16. ^ a b Dollar, Steve (October 1, 1998). "Weekend at Home". The Atlanta Constitution. p. E4.
  17. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 633.
  18. ^ Hermes, Will (November 6, 1998). "Pop/Rock". Entertainment Weekly. No. 457. p. 88.
  19. ^ a b Krewen, Nick (September 15, 1998). "Let's Kill Saturday Night". The Hamilton Spectator. p. E7.
  20. ^ a b Perry, Tim (September 26, 1998). "Pop". Features. The Independent. p. 43.
  21. ^ a b Bacon, Scott (September 27, 1998). "Record Picks". The Indianapolis Star. p. I5.
  22. ^ a b Takiff, Jonathan (October 2, 1998). "Six Singers with Something to Say—and They're Men". Features Yo!. Philadelphia Daily News. p. 55.
  23. ^ a b Mansfield, Brian (September 15, 1998). "Country". USA Today. p. 10D.
  24. ^ Schone, Mark (March 3, 1998). "College twang". The Village Voice. Vol. 43, no. 9. p. 119.
  25. ^ "Robbie Fulks". Robert Christgau. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
  26. ^ Pareles, Jon (October 5, 1998). "Heartbreak and Wordplay". The New York Times. p. E7.
  27. ^ Puterbaugh, Parke (October 15, 1998). "Let's Kill Saturday Night". Rolling Stone. No. 797. pp. 129–130.
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