Wheeler Walker, Jr. is the outlaw persona comedian
Ben Hoffman created once he was left without a job following the cancellation of his Comedy Central program The Ben Show. Part
Waylon, part
Hank Jr.,
WWJ is an unabashed throwback, so it's only fitting that fellow '70s country devotee
Sturgill Simpson was instrumental in getting
Redneck Shit off the ground, teaming
Hoffman with
Dave Cobb, a producer who helps give
Redneck Shit the shape of a real record. It's not dissimilar to the trick
Ween and producer
Ben Vaughn pulled off 20 years earlier with
12 Golden Country Greats, where the New Hope duo holed up with Nashville cats to create an authentic-sounding salute to the golden age of the Music City, but
Ween were always musicians first.
Hoffman is a comedian and not a subtle one at that, either. Using
David Allan Coe's infamous underground party records as a template,
Hoffman loads up
Redneck Shit with songs about f******, spitting out every filthy permutation that crosses his mind. The surprises come not in the words -- sooner or later,
WWJ challenges someone to suck his d*** and, as
Bryan Ferry once sang, you can guess the rest -- but the music, which ranges from back-porch singalongs to
ZZ Top boogies but usually consists of straight-down-the-middle amped-up, revved-up outlaw ravers. If
Hoffman had followed the lead of his music and bothered to write about anything other than screwing -- maybe guns, God, or even Walmart -- the record wouldn't be such a bore, but instead it's just sneering condescension, an obvious joke from a guy who thinks he's better than all y'all. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine