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Hank Williams III's new disc, Straight to Hell, is, not surprisingly, a record almost entirely about being, well, Hank Williams III. Grandson of an American institution and son of Monday night partying Bocephus, Hank III grew into a paranoid, schizoid, angry young son-of-a-bitch, a fact he's both damn proud of yet strangely resentful of. Straight to Hell, his third album, is a sometimes uncomfortable, deliberately messy, but always fascinating insight into Hank's artistic process at both its most depressing and most invigorating. Throughout, listeners are forced to endure repeated tales of excess and drugged-out drunken stupor in disturbing, even primitive detail.

These tales are familiar to his small but impassioned legion of followers; young Hank is born to country royalty, is expected to follow in the footsteps of pappy and grand-pappy, but instead embraces the trio of drugs, booze, and punk-rawk. Steep child-support payments came a-calling, and Hank III traded in his Black Flag T-Shirts for a Nudie Suit and chaps (at least periodically). Unfortunately for Hank III, his name alone marries him to the Nashville scene as much as his beloved contemporaries. Sure, things might've turned out different if his name were, say, Robert Williams, Alexander Williams, or even Ted Theodore Williams. But unfortunately for him, he was born Shelton Hank Williams, looks the part, and in his own special spirit, acts the part better than any other modern honky-tonk star.

Straight to Hell both lives and dies by its namesake, but Hank III's songwriting is strong and compelling enough to warrant, even welcome, his persistent bad attitude. Straight to Hell is not a typical country album; rather, Hell is really an anti-country album, full of songs that incite and insult the Nashville institution that more or less guaranteed Hank III's bills would be paid. When Hank isn't biting the hand that feeds, he's detailing a murky personal life, with repeated references to honky-tonks, whiskey, and loose women. This, if anything, is one of the album's few flaws: has country gone so far down the road that even a self-affirming outlaw can't find anything better to sing about than a life of hard knocks, poverty and sin? This seems particularly incredulous coming from someone born into a life of wealth and esteem (though that does seem to be what Hank resents the most). But at least Hank III takes these tales to new depths of degradation ("the sheriff wants to kill me 'cuz I fucked his wife" he sings at one point). His grandfather may have lived it, but he'd never have sung about it, so Hank 3.0 fills in the blanks.

But Hank III seems so incredibly resentful of his upscale upbringing and musical heritage that he basks in wallowing. Straight to Hell is at its best when the subject matter shifts to his hatred for modern Nashville ("Trashville"). Hell's standout track, without a doubt one of the year's finest songs, is the aptly titled "Dick in Dixie," where our hero proclaims "I'm here to put the 'dick' in Dixie and the 'cunt' back in country/'Cause the kind of country I hear now days is a bunch of fuckin' shit to me." It's a one-sided assault on the conventions of country swill, and even his own father isn't immune to Hank III's assault; on "Not Everybody Likes Us" he proclaims he'd rather "eat the barrel of a double-barrel loaded shotgun" than hear another piss-poor collaboration with Kid Rock.

Straight to Hell, despite its lurid subject matter, is hardly a downer; in fact, it's one of the year's liveliest records. Spread amongst Hank III's fight songs are a number of genuinely moving odes to his own heroes, including "Country Heroes" and "D. Ray White." But that's not why anyone's paying attention. They want to hear the newest incarnation of the Hank Williams legend; or maybe they want to hear the first mainstream country record with a (well deserved) "parental advisory" sticker; or maybe they just want to hear some great country music. Hank III is certainly an artist to watch, and while his attitude might not earn him a spot next to Grandpa in the Country Music Hall of Fame, in the spirit of Straight to Hell, who fuckin' cares?

3.5 of 5

Wanna win a copy of Straight to Hell?  The two best feedback posts to this article before Friday, April 21 get a special edition vinyl copy of the album!

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