Jon Hardy And The Public: Desperately Hung Up

The St. Louis roots-rock band Jon Hardy & The Public has been an exciting little secret for a few years now. Something about the group's alternately brash and sincere songwriting, explosive riffs and sweaty performances have drawn comparisons to the region's standard-bearer of alternative country, Uncle Tupelo — no faint praise, that.

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"Worst I Ever Had" dwells on the least romantic kind of love: the obsessive, delusional, gut-wrenching, possibly unrequited kind. courtesy of the artist hide caption

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courtesy of the artist

"Worst I Ever Had" dwells on the least romantic kind of love: the obsessive, delusional, gut-wrenching, possibly unrequited kind.

courtesy of the artist

Hardy and company have followed their revered 2007 album Working in Love and an EP of covers, Little Criminals: Songs From Randy Newman, with another standout EP called Sugar. The new set's highlight is "Worst I Ever Had," a tune about the least romantic kind of love: the obsessive, delusional, gut-wrenching, possibly unrequited kind. The track's quick pace, upbeat melody and optimistic horns betray a story that can only turn out badly. "I got it bad / So bad / This could be the worst anybody's had," Hardy sings, adding. "I'm just so hung up over you." Brilliantly capturing a desperate feeling somewhere between lust and fear, the group shows why it's poised to transform itself from a regional favorite to a national one.

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