Old 97's

Old 97's' mix of back-porch twang and classic-rock crunch on their first three albums
earned them the billing "alt-country" -- a tag that the Dallas quartet has outgrown with the
eclectic, often genius Fight Songs. Singer and songwriter Rhett Miller loves a pure, earnest
melody, and he has an ear for the revelatory juxtaposition: The hummable theme of "What
We Talk About" is situated atop a rhythm that's part Mersey beat and part vintage... More >

Now alt-country only by historical association, Rhett Miller Associates deliver what the No Depression crowd always wanted: a jangle-rock album worthy of the Byrds themselves. Miller's no McGuinn. But his conversational ache sure beats McGuire, the perfect medium for unfaltering songcraft that ambles from Crazy Horse to Poco without ever turning fussy or eclectic, and in addition his guitarist likes Lynyrd Skynyrd. The whole doesn't present itself as a concept album only because losing at love is a pop metatheme. Note, however, that for both touring post­alt-rockers and the postcollegians who love them, the geographical distance these lyrics can't stay away from is now a basic coordinate of romance- a love-wrecker, a pain in the heart, a way out. If you wanted to get fancy about it, and I do, you could then blame this emotional trap on the same untrammeled capitalism that turns every young job seeker into a freelance contractor and every aspiring artist into a media pro. So keep up the good fight songs, Old 97's. We'll lick this social problem yet. (Grade: A)