Old 97’s
Blame It on Gravity
(New West, 2008)

Even a committed fan could be forgiven for fearing some unpleasant fate had befallen the Old 97’s. Besides an unremarkable live disc, we’ve heard nary a power chord from the countrified Dallas rockers since 2004’s Drag It Up. Frontman Rhett Miller, of course, has been busy honing an impressive brand of quirky power-pop that retains just enough twang to set it apart from the pack. 2002’s The Instigator and 2006’s The Believer marry the inventiveness of his lyrics with his magnificent melodies—creating two winning efforts in the process.

But as it turns out, Miller’s foursome is still very much intact. And New West’s release of Blame It on Gravity marks the band’s seventh studio LP over a 15-year career. It’s been a remarkable run. The Old 97’s’ rock guitars, punkish energy, and hillbilly tales placed them squarely at the forefront of a burgeoning alt-country movement over a decade ago. But a four-year absence from the public eye is enough to produce some rust, and the band’s inactivity shows, plaguing their newest record with a baker’s dozen of tracks that suggest they should have taken another year off. Indeed, Blame It on Gravity is uneven and unremarkable—the sound of a band that’s a little north of lazy but south of motivated.

The arrangements on Blame It on Gravity are plodding and pedestrian and even Miller’s lyrics, previously reliably smart and funny, are missing the mischievous optimism that’s become his trademark. To be fair, Miller’s not the only underachieving contributor here. Murray Hammond is equally disappointing, pitching in with a pair of thoroughly underwhelming tracks with “This Beautiful Thing” and “Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue.”

The much-hyped producer Salim Nourallah has fashioned a recording that aims to take the band back to its roots—trading in some of the power-pop sheen for crunchy guitars and ramshackle rock ‘n’ roll arrangements that harken back to some of the group’s earliest efforts like 1994’s Hitchhike to Rome and 1995’s Wreck Your Life. But there’s none of the urgency and energy of those albums. Instead, Blame It On Gravity sounds like a talented bunch going through the motions. And, firmly ensconced on the altar of alt-country forefathers, the band has let their act grow stale.

Blame It on Gravity’s winning tracks are few and far between. The opener, “The Fool”, is a solid rock number with a highly hummable melody, and the frenetic “Early Morning” is a jaunty hillbilly guitar workout. But the record is padded with too much plodding mid-tempo filler to make it worthwhile. With songs like these, it’s hard not to imagine that Miller’s been saving his best material for his superior solo outings.

The disc’s final track, “The One”, is one of the record’s finest, a charming and inventive journey through the band’s own history. But it’s that same backward-looking perspective that keeps this album from being what it could have been. Blame it on gravity? Maybe, but we’re probably better off blaming it on middle-aged fatigue and undercooked songwriting from a group that’s too talented to waste time resting on their laurels.

Listen: Various Tracks [at myspace.com]

More articles by Matt Gewolb:

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