It's hard not to read the title of
Hardy's fourth album as a message to the country music industry that made him a star: he's voluntarily leaving Nashville behind. Once nimbly navigating the border separating country and rock,
Hardy throws himself into churning post-grunge with
Quit!!, swiping a song title from
Oasis, namedropping
Nickelback -- not so coincidentally a band produced by
Joey Moi,
Hardy's collaborator from the start -- and going so far as to invite
Fred Durst and
Chad Smith of
Red Hot Chili Peppers into the studio to make a cameo.
Quit!! plays like a deliberate tribute to the glory days of nu-metal, but underneath the digital clamor there still are traces of the professional songwriter who penned hits for
Florida Georgia Line and
Morgan Wallen.
Hardy is sharp enough to give the strip-club anthem "Good Girl Phase" a boisterous pop hook, a trick he replicates on the
Knox duet "Happy Hour," while he also knows the power of a simple slow tune: he closes proceedings with "Six Feet Under (Caleigh's Song)," a power ballad designed to bounce off the walls at arenas. "Six Feet Under (Caleigh's Song)" is every bit as calculated as "Psycho" -- a song intended to elicit smirks on behalf of a vengeful ex -- and "Jim Bob," a dirge-like celebration of Southern cliches that can't be called country. By playing modern metal for a contemporary country audience,
Hardy hits a bullseye with his intended audience. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
