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On the Shelf 118: The Old 97s
Jun. 15th, 2014 08:22 pmWith a shout to my friend G, the current record store new record shelf looks like his 90s CD shelf- Son Volt, Braid, The Old 97s, the Pixies all are reunited and with new discs, and I suppose you could throw Sebadoh in the mix who had a album last year and new discs from Bob Mould and Neil Young, who never went away. I think that just leaves Bikini Kill.
That aside, you probably know my love for the Old 97s.
There's a lot of good press around the new record Most Messed Up.
Up feels like that dreaded phrase, return to form. Still, it seems apt for a band that released their debut 20 years ago. It's rootsy and reckless and feels like the band's best moments.
I find it hard to not do a review without some mention of Rev Horton Heat's Rev. In both cases, 20+ years and 10+ discs, both artists occasionally strayed into other directions(inevitably, with careers that long, it is bound to happen), but are now playing music closest to what made us love them in the first place.
Though while Rev is good fun, it will never replace those first two Heat albums. Up actually stands it's ground with those great Old 97s records from the 90s.
I won't say it beats them (or their recent Grand Theatre Vols. 1 and 2), but some critics say it does (and they're not really that far off that mark).
The album starts off with "Longer Than You Been Alive", a Mott the Hoople style self-referential rambling rock song that points out they've been around longer than some of their fans.
From there, it's a booze-soaked affair that resembles that classic band sound, and does as well as anyone that has come along since. If anything, it sticks out in my mind that these guys are criminally underrated (a fact I always felt as they never got anywhere near the press of their peers back in the day like Wilco and Ryan Adams), but the truth is this makes a strong argument that Rhett Miller (and Co) were and continue to be just as good as Paul Westerberg's bunch.
Maybe that's not an argument that is worth having (I don't intend that as a slight to the Mats, but as a tribute to the 97s), but regardless, some great, great music.
Bad words and bad examples follow- nsfw language
That aside, you probably know my love for the Old 97s.
There's a lot of good press around the new record Most Messed Up.
Up feels like that dreaded phrase, return to form. Still, it seems apt for a band that released their debut 20 years ago. It's rootsy and reckless and feels like the band's best moments.
I find it hard to not do a review without some mention of Rev Horton Heat's Rev. In both cases, 20+ years and 10+ discs, both artists occasionally strayed into other directions(inevitably, with careers that long, it is bound to happen), but are now playing music closest to what made us love them in the first place.
Though while Rev is good fun, it will never replace those first two Heat albums. Up actually stands it's ground with those great Old 97s records from the 90s.
I won't say it beats them (or their recent Grand Theatre Vols. 1 and 2), but some critics say it does (and they're not really that far off that mark).
The album starts off with "Longer Than You Been Alive", a Mott the Hoople style self-referential rambling rock song that points out they've been around longer than some of their fans.
From there, it's a booze-soaked affair that resembles that classic band sound, and does as well as anyone that has come along since. If anything, it sticks out in my mind that these guys are criminally underrated (a fact I always felt as they never got anywhere near the press of their peers back in the day like Wilco and Ryan Adams), but the truth is this makes a strong argument that Rhett Miller (and Co) were and continue to be just as good as Paul Westerberg's bunch.
Maybe that's not an argument that is worth having (I don't intend that as a slight to the Mats, but as a tribute to the 97s), but regardless, some great, great music.
Bad words and bad examples follow- nsfw language
