Jared Bill - Unknown Country (2025)

Tracklist

01. The Cruise
02. Feeding the Crows
03. The Jared Bill Interlude
04. No Fiesta
05. Zero Turn
06. Firetruck
07. Praying for a Bowl
08. Approached by Jehovahs
09. Newport Grand
10. Desert Rose Bouquet

This ain’t Jared Bill‘s first rodeo… At least on buffaBLOG. The international man of mystery is back with another batch of interesting and captivating songs, their deeper meanings often inscrutable, but certainly never boring. The album is called Unknown Country – a 10 song collection of whatever the hell Jared wants, set off by his trademark deep country baritone. We’re gonna go ahead and say that Unknown Country is the perfect name for this album, because it is. Jared’s always going to keep you guessing – and laughing – while you make your way through these songs about Appalachia, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and… Jai Alai?

You might be expecting flat out country music from Jared, but opening song “The Cruise” is closer to a 1980s-era post punk jam. Electronic disco drums and plucky guitars power this one forward, with, of course, Jared’s trademark baritone. In case you’re questioning the absurdity that might be found here, “Pizza, it’s what’s for dinner” is the first line of this song… And the song itself is about winning a tropical cruise from a raffle box on the counter at the pizza place. I’ve gotta say, I’ve never heard a song quite like this… And that’s Jared’s m.o. You’ll find surprises tucked throughout the entire album. Song two, “Feeding the Crows,” settles into a little bit more of a western, indie folk groove – and while topically, this one feels a little bit more American Southwest, it still has that wry, Jared Bill smile (TM) hidden below the surface. You might also smile at the clever “Praying for a Bowl,” which on the surface you might think is about marijuana, but is actually about working at a burrito place and hoping the customers order a burrito bowl because your stubby fingers aren’t so good at rolling burritos. No, I’m not kidding. How does Jared come up with this stuff?

It’s not all jokes with Jared… At least we don’t think. “No Fiesta” flirts with unions, scabs, and blue collar life over that vaguely Western folksy shuffle that Jared seems to have really nailed this time around. Follow up track “Zero Turn” has that same workin’ man feel – waxing poetic about the feel of power tools and kicking tractor wheels. With a squiggly slide guitar that is genuinely beautiful, this one gets our vote for album favorite. I could see some of the folks that never left my corn-farming hometown shedding a tear to this, unironically.

There’s lots more to dig through on Unknown Country – including the blown out guitar tones and C W McCall monologue vocals on “Firetruck.” The sadly relatable “Approached by Jehovah’s” is vaguely offensive (Jared likes to push his luck and he’s good at it, tbh)… but certainly factual. By the time you make it through album closer “Desert Rose Bouquet,” you’ll wonder if this was a novelty album or a real, bass-voiced crooner writing country-adjacent songs with a bit less “beer, trucks, and guns” energy and a little bit more “stubby burrito fingers” energy. The fun part is, we’ll probably never know.

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