Details
Track Listing
1. Won't Be Home
2. Moonlight
3. Borrowed Bride
4. Smokers
5. Coahuila
6. Blinding Sheets of Rain
7. Valium Waltz
8. In the Satellite Rides a Star
9. New Kid, The
10. Bloomington
11. Adelaide
12. Friends Forever
13. No Mother
| Details | | Producer: | Mark Neill | | Distributor: | RED Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Old 97's: Murry Hammond (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonium, bass guitar, tambourine, percussion, background vocals); Ken Bethea (vocals, guitar, accordion); Rhett Miller (vocals, guitar); Philip Peeples (drums, tambourine, percussion).
Additional personnel: Chris Lawrence (pedal steel guitar); Mitch Manker (trumpet); Archie Thompson, Sarah Neill (piano); Craig Packham (tambourine).
Recording information: Soil Of The South Studios, San Diego, California; Dreamland Studios, Woodstock, NY.
In a just world, the Old 97's would have at least equaled the rise to fame of kindred spirits Whiskeytown. When head 97 Rhett Miller put out his major-label solo album, it seemed like he was all set to become the next Ryan Adams, and justifiably so. However, the late-'90s buzz around Miller and his band never quite translated to stardom. DRAG IT UP finds them on an indie label, the dust of hype suitably cleared; lo and behold, the result is one of their best albums ever.
The record opens with "Won't Be Home," whose surging roots-rock and locomotive rhythm are suggestive of "Time Bomb," the closest the 97's ever came to a hit. From there things rapidly shift direction, as "Moonlight" is an achingly pretty ballad that includes a nod to the Velvet Underground lullaby "After Hours." A honky-tonk piano and poetic, world-weary lyric enliven "Borrowed Bride," with its refrain of "life comes apart at the seams," and "Smokers" suggests nothing so much as a Chris Stamey tune from an early dB's album. What comes across most strongly on DRAG IT UP is the sterling songcraft and empathetic band interplay, positing the Old 97's as the crown princes of the country-rock roost. Take that, Ryan Adams!
Industry Reviews
[G]uitarist Ken Bethea's super-reverberated riffs strut between Byrds-like warble and Uncle Tupelo-like fingerpicking with ease.
4 out of 5 - On DRAG IT UP - aided by unpolished production that doesn't force them to rock faster or harder than they should - all that cleverness works better than before....Beautifully haunting and well worth the wait.
[S]hifting between singer/songwriter Rhett Miller's heartrending country and mojo-fueled power pop. - Grade: B+
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