Most Messed Up

Like all the hipsters, I went through my alt-country phase. If you're unfamiliar, I guess technically it means rock bands that have a country flavor. This was before the Modern Country thing happened, before Rascal Flatts and Lady Antebellum and Florida Georgia Line and Zac Brown Band decided that playing electric guitars but still singing about being a shitkicker was enough the make you a rocker. Those are country bands that think they are rock bands. And they are barely country artists. They don't belong in the same breath with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt Waylon Jennings and Loretta Lynn and Hank Williams and Patsy Cline. And that's about all I'll say on that subject, because it ain't for me and I try to be nice here.

One of my favorites out of the alt-country scene were the Old 97s. They hail from Dallas. Dreamy lead singer Rhett Miller went to my rival high school. But I was lame in high school and didn't have a blood vendetta against anybody, so that doesn't really mean much to me. The Old97s followed in the footsteps of my finding Wilco and Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt. This was around 1998 and 1999. The first record of theirs I bought was Fight Songs. But the one that really hooked me, and hooked most of the people who love them, was Too Far To Care. It's a great dose of cowpunk. Snarling Strats, great melodies, swinging rhythm section.

The cool thing about them is that they always had an outstanding melodic sense, almost as much power pop and alt-country. Rhett Miller's solo records all lean much more Big Star than Waylon. That had started to rub off on the band a bit, but the last couple of records find them returning to their roots. Their latest is Most Messed Up and it 100% follows that path.

You can tell by the names of the songs: "Let's Get Drunk & Get It On" and "This Is The Ballad" demonstrate the sense of humor they have always had. Opening cut "Longer Than You've Been Alive" sounds like Rhett telling his kids why they have a rock star for a dad. "Wheels Off" sounds like it could have come right off Fight Songs. Every country-ish band needs a song about "Nashville" and they do theirs here.  "Wasted" starts off like lots of Old 97s, acoustic intro but cranking up the amps, singing about not being a square and getting blotto. Bassist Murray Hammond, who is the secret weapon of the band, gets another great track to sing, this time "Ex Of All Your See."

The cowpunk moniker sticks. It's ragged and rough in spots. It's noisy. The back of the record says "Play this album real loud." It's under 40 minutes long, so it starts, kicks ass, says see you next time.

Where bands often find themselves in ruts or bored by what they do, the Old 97s seem to revel in it. They don't break much new ground these days, but they seem to have found their groove. There are good songs in that groove. Growth isn't always needed. Knowing what you are good at is an excellent skill to have.

Singled Out!

One of the many cool things about buying vinyl exclusively is finding little 7" singles. Artists use these to release special things (like when I wrote about Record Store Day) or just a way to release odds and ends or just getting something cool out there. Here's some 7" singles I've gotten in the past few months.

Birth of the Pipesnakes by The FED - Truth be told I know these guys and I had the true honor of playing a gig with The FED last night. Happily they were selling copies of their vinyl and I was more than happy to snatch up a copy. They are a great local DC band that do a kind of swamp-boogie-thing. I describe them as Kings of Leon before Kings of Leon started to suck. Their live show definitely makes you move. My favorite track off of this is the first cut on side A, "'83," just a great piece of dirty rock n roll. The rest of it is plenty great to.

"Criminal Fingers"/"The Bear and the Maiden Fair" by The Hold Steady - This was a 2013 Record Store Day buy (actually I cheated and bought it on eBay). The A side is a mellow track called "Criminal Fingers" but it's the B side that is the real jewel: their imagining of "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" from Game of Thrones. The National did something similar with "The Rains of Castamere," keeping to the morose and sad spirit of that track. The Hold Steady do their thing here, bringing their classic exuberance and energy to a fun song. I am going to try to talk my band into covering this!

"Southern Comfort"/"Stars" by Æges. A great progressive metal band from California, leaning more toward the prog side but with plenty of heaviness. They are made up of guys from Pelican, Undertow and Rise (amongst other bands). They do the de-tuned guitar thing but have a great sense of melody and happily the singer sings and doesn't grunt or snarl. The first side is a cut off their great record The Bridge. The back side is a great unreleased tune called "Stars." It has great dynamics with heavy sections broken with mellower spots connected by a great pop sensibility when it kicks into it's groove.

"Deny The Absolute"/"The Truce" by Pelican - Speaking of Pelican, they are another great progressive leaning metal band. Where Æges has vocals, Pelican keeps it to instrumentals. These are two new tracks off their forthcoming record. Like I keep preaching, I love melody, and these guys have a sure grasp of it. The A-side is a great stomper; you can bang your head but not so much that you break your neck.  The B-side is a great acoustic-based number, a really nice touch from a normally heavy sounding band. They are playing DC9 in November...I already have my tickets! I bought both this and the Æges record from The Mylene Sheath. Check them out for a lot of interesting proggy metal acts.

Iron Road by The Old 97s - Last and certainly not least is one of my most favorite alt-country acts The Old 97s. This is another Record Store Day get (though they appear to have released it in greater quantities now). Their are two 7" here featuring 4 tracks from 1996. The first disc is a treat because it has the original outlaw himself, Waylon Jennings, taking the lead vocal on "Iron Road" and "The Other Shoe." Waylon's classic voice fits the Old 97s like a glove. Just a perfect slice of outlaw country. The other disc has demo versions of "Visiting Hours" and "Fireflies."

Burning the Nite Club (930) Down

I saw two shows in 72 hours this week. I'll talk about the second first and the first one some other time.

One of the most entertaining live acts out there is the Old 97s. If you're not familiar (shame on you!) it's sort of country-punk from my grew-up-in-town of Dallas. This tour was celebrating the 15th anniversary of their great Too Far To Care album. Since it's the thing to do now they did the album in it's entirety start to finish. I've commented on this before, but (there's always a but) this album is so great it's fine with me.

Here's a video of them doing the album's (killer) opener "Time Bomb." It's about 5 years old but you'll get the idea.

Yeeeeee-haw!

I think Rhett Miller is one of the best front men around. He's good looking, a great lyricist, and a very engaging performer. I try (horribly) to model my stage presence on good old Rhett. I think if you're watching a band, you should be entertained. It is entertainment, right? I read that in a manual somewhere. And the Old 97s definitely enterain. High energy, lots of fun, great songs.

They did TFTC to start the show. For the second half they did (from memory) "Mama Tried," "Victoria Lee," "Murder (Or A Heart Attack),""Jagged,""Valentine," "Rollerskate Skinny," "Dance With Me," "Champaign, Illinois," "Every Night Is Friday Night (Without You)"and "Brown Haired Daughter." I might have missed something but that sounds right.

Rhett himself opened the show with a 20 minute acoustic set. Very cool. The support band was called The Travoltas. Not much to say of them except the singer has produced the 97s last few records, the keyboard player seems like a cool dude to hang around with, and they got nice suits. My neighbor said it best: "It went from cool to kitchsy to long." Another plus, there was not much dead time between sets, Very fast turnaround and I am old now so I like that.

Here be some photographic evidence of the good-time-had-by-all.

This man is Stewart Ransom Miller and he's a serial lady-killer

The Travoltas. Nice suits.

Just a little band from Texas