Pokey LaFarge - “Fuck Me Up”

SXSW 2020 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 9

Pairs Well With…Carolina Chocolate Drops, Shovels & Rope, The Devil Makes Three

Pokey LaFarge has always been a throwback artist, but the two early singles from the classic rock and roll musician’s upcoming seventh full-length Rock Bottom Rhapsody are even looser and more ramblin’ than what’s come before. “Fuck Me Up” adds a little lo-fi punk energy to the jangly blues number, a whiskey-soaked track that feels like its coming from a player-piano in the corner of a Western saloon. “End of My Rope” leans more into LaFarge’s country roots, but adds classic pop/R&B songwriting to instill the Illinois-based performer’s winking personality. (Kevin McStravick)

2013 Review: Genuine and traditional authenticity can be hard to find with so many bands reaching towards the future to define a new sound.  For Pokey LaFarge, greatness is found in the past, which he commits to both in his persona and his music.  Drawing from country and Americana traditions from the early to mid-20th century, LaFarge sounds like a love letter from the past, a novel rather than a laptop.  This “all in” approach to his traditions has a great payoff for a SXSW crowd who respects history and good music.