Old 97’s Back on Track

Blame It on Gravity
Old 97’s
New West

Slow record sales might actually have helped Old 97’s.

It wasn’t the band’s sagging stats, but those of singer/guitarist Rhett Miller, that might have been the catalyst. Miller’s 2006 solo album, “The Believer,” didn’t perform as well in the marketplace as his previous effort, 2002’s “The Instigator.” Or at least it didn’t live up to the expectations of his label, Verve, which pulled Miller’s tour support, according to a recent feature story about Old 97’s in the final issue of No Depression.

Miller’s loss appears to have been the band’s gain. He stepped back from his part-time job as Rhett Miller, solo artist (perhaps artiste; he sometimes leans toward preciousness) and has settled back into his starring role as Rhett Miller, chief singer and songwriter for Old 97’s. Miller’s disappointment led to a boon to the many fans of Old 97’s brand of melodic alt-country, as the band returned to the studio and emerged with the excellent new disc, “Blame it on Gravity.” I count myself among those supporters, and “Blame It on Gravity” has been a major player in my heavy-rotation pile the past few weeks.

“Blame It on Gravity” is somewhat of a return to form for Old 97’s. Their classic sound never really went anywhere, but their previous disc, 2004’s “Drag It Up,” at times contained too much “drag” and not enough “up.” There are fewer downers this time around, and the band walks the line between country and power-pop that yielded their mid-’90s masterpiece, “Too Far to Care.”

In short, the band is back to doing what it does best. There are relatively few stylistic experiments. There are no vocals from lead guitarist Ken Bethea. (And that’s for the best; “Coahuila,” from “Drag It Up,” was effective as a change of pace but largely ineffective otherwise.) Bethea’s strengths lie elsewhere, and he and the rest of Old 97’s put their best foot forward on “Blame it on Gravity.”

For Miller, that means an impeccable sense of rhyme and an inventive use of description. A good example of the latter is the guy in opener “The Fool” who follows the girl because “He was on her like a drug/ Hallucinogenic with no hangover at all.” In Miller’s defense, “The Believer” was a perfectly good album. He’s just in top form on “Blame It on Gravity” and eager to, as he says on “No Baby I,” “Strum it on a Telecaster / sing it like a train disaster song.”

Bassist Murry Hammond, who recently released a solo album of his own, adds his typically sweet backing vocals throughout and makes strong contributions to “Blame It on Gravity” with two melodic cuts: “This Beautiful Thing” and “Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue.”
But the surest sign that Old 97’s are firing on all cylinders is the galloping drumbeat, courtesy of Philip Peeples, that drives the opening track, “The Fool.” From the first crack of the snare they’re off and running, compiling a disc that compares favorably to the best work of their 15 years together. There are rockers such as “The Fool,” “No Baby I,” “Early Morning” and “The Easy Way.” And there are pretty ones such as “This Beautiful Thing,” “She Loves the Sunset” and “Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue.” The rest of the cuts reside in the mid-tempo ground between the two.

“Blame It on Gravity” closes, somewhat appropriately, with “The One.” In the heist flick set to music, Miller introduces the other members of the band and recounts how they made off with major-label dollars back in the day. The getaway car has logged a lot of miles since then, but this gang is still thick as thieves. Long may they ride.