HARDY ‘Quit!!’ – Album Review

HARDY’s new album, Quit!! is out now, July 12th on all streaming platforms. Take a listen and read our full review below.

While HARDY has always expertly toed the line between country and rock music, his new album, QUIT!!, out now, is his first full foray into rock. There isn’t much twang or pedal and steel here, the singer-songwriter trading those for heavier guitar riffs, metal screams, and Fred Durst.

Produced by Joey Moi, the Big Loud Records/ Big Loud Rock LP positions HARDY quite differently than his previous offerings. On QUIT!!, he’s no longer a country singer dabbling in rock, but a rock singer who got his start in country. From the spoken word nature of the title track to the driving guitars and screaming choruses of “Psycho,” the album takes listeners on a new and sometimes unexpected ride.

The LA Times previously called HARDY “Nashville’s nü-metal king,” and this thirteen track collection allows him to claim that throne. It’s the follow up to 2023’s The Mockingbird & THE CROW, which featured the mega-hit, “Wait In the Truck,” and still found the singer-songwriter dabbling in both genres. At the time of that release, he told American Songwriter, “There’s always a struggle between do I do the full-on rock thing, or do I keep writing country songs and do the country thing?”

On QUIT!!, he’s doing the “full-on rock thing,” kicking the album off with the Eminem-meets-Linkin-Park-esque title track, which details his journey through the music industry, rising above adversity with a heavy and grinding chorus. “Somebody wrote ‘quit!!’ on a napkin, I took it outta my tip jar laughing,” He proclaims. “Like damn what an a**hole, Man I’m just a flat broke boy with a guitar asking for anybody to pay attention.”

“Rockstar” is an immediate ear worm, laced with tints of early-2000’s pop-punk as he muses about all of the songs with similar themes, musing over the winding path of his career. “Started out with rifles, trucks and huntin’ season,” He sings, tongue-in-cheek. “Now, I got my middle finger up like a kid again.”

“Everybody’s got a song called, “Rockstar” // Runnin’ up the pop charts, talkin’ all the shit they do // I been Houdini with my commas, pissin’ off my momma, gettin’ all these new tattoos // And I ain’t sayin’ that I’m Nickelback, kickin’ it in Cali with today’s who’s-who // Everybody’s got a song called, “Rockstar” // Lately, I been feelin’ like one, so I wrote one too”

“Good Girl Phase” and “PSYCHO” are HARDY at his absolute best, combining clever hooks with unique lyrics. The latter is endlessly catchy and features the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith on the tune about a “bad, bad girl” who is “just going through a good girl phase.” Meanwhile, “Psycho” is a dark promise of what may happen when a relationship ends, the facade dropping and the good guy turning crazy.

“I pray you never go, there’s something you should know // I hope you stay forever ’cause If you ever leave me, // girl, I’ll get a face tattoo // Steal a truck, end up on the six o’clock news // If you say goodbye, hell, I’ll dye my hair // Crash your birthday party in my underwear // Hey, I hope you never have to see the day // But if you ever walk away, well // Everybody you know, everybody I know’s // Gonna know you fell in love with a psycho”

Similarly, the previously-released “Jim Bob” is the album’s heaviest track, embracing the sounds of fiery electronic rock as he tells the tale of a man with some demons in his life. “We all know a Jim Bob,” said HARDY in a statement of the titular character of the wild and roaring track. “That boy’s got some demons, he’s a heathen Put him at a pew, he needs some Jesus now… All I know’s I’m gonna live this redneck life until it kills me.”

Both “I Don’t Miss” and “Happy Hour” are cleverly written mid-tempos, with “I Don’t Miss” providing an anthemic proclamation on the chorus that can easily be imagined as a theme song for athletes, politicians and sports teams. Meanwhile, “Happy Hour” finds him struggling with the title given to day drinking, musing that everyone is sad to be drinking when the sun is still out.

“Orphan” finds him grappling with his place in Nashville, declaring himself “the orphan of this country music town,” while “SOUL4SALE” pairs him with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst as they admit they’ll sell their souls for success, which builds to a roaring climax. 

While HARDY’s heavier side is on full display on QUIT!!, he still manages to show his softer side on songs like the poignant “WHYBMWL” and “Six Feet Under (Caleigh’s Song).” While the former finds him wondering where someone’s been his whole life, the latter is HARDY at his best, grappling with his own mortality as he struggles with the aftermath of an accident and wondering where things end up.

 “Where do you go when you die? // How do you know when you’re there? // If Heaven’s a moment you wish never ended // Then I’m six feet under somewhere // But I’m six feet under somewhere // I swear to God, I thought I was dead // On the side of the road with glass in my head // Ah, but death ain’t what scared me to death in the end // It was thinking I’d never see you again”

For HARDY, QUIT!! definitely shows a side of the acclaimed singer-songwriter that’s been bubbling just below the surface for years, and while it’s not quite country, it still shows why he’s become one of the genre’s most recognizable stars.

Quit! Track List: