OLD 97S "Blame It on Gravity" New West Records
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OLD 97S"Blame It on Gravity"New West Records
COW PUNKERS gone pop and back, Old 97s christened themselves after a classic train-wreck ballad in 1993. But frontman Rhett Miller mused in a radio interview a few months back that, had the group expected still to be burning down barrooms 15 years later, they'd probably have dropped the "old" from their handle.
True enough, everything about their fine "Blame It on Gravity" (maybe even the title) feels like a joyous shrugging-off of geezerdom. Guitars are fuzzier, hooks sharper and tempos faster than on the band's prior studio set, 2004's "Drag It Up." The disc's extremities -- steam-engine opener "The Fool," caboose "The One" (which speculates that armed robbery might yield more fun and profit than coming up with dozen more songs) and, well, the whole second half, really -- stomp and cry with the illusion of effortlessness that made the group's brazenly twangy mid-'90s albums ("Wreck Your Life," "Too Far to Care") so easy to love.
Miller turns 38 this year, which, though hardly old, is probably too old for him still to be singing, "I am infatuated with you, but you don't know that I exist" (on the jaunty moper "I Will Remain"), which is the base lyrical reduction of at least half the songs he has ever written. His two Old 97s-era solo albums drowned in this sticky stuff, proving just how much he needs his band's bitter to cut his sweet. The balladry has always sounded more convincing coming from 97s bassist and second lead singer Murry Hammond, anyway. On the gorgeous "Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue," Hammond proves it yet again.
-- Chris Klimek
Appearing Tuesday at the 9:30 club (202-393-0930,http:/
