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The Old 97's - Blame It on Gravity

Rating

RIYL

Wilco
OAR
Ryan Adams

Tracklist

1. The Fool
2. Dance With Me
3. No Baby I
4. My Two Feet
5. Ride
6. She Loves the Sunset
7. This Beautiful Thing
8. I Will Remain
9. Early Morning
10. The Easy Way
11. Here’s to the Halcyon
12. Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue
13. The one

In terms of the alt-country folk rock scene, The Old 97's register as something somewhere in between Wilco and OAR, retaining the dusty twang of Wilco and infusing it with the lightness of OAR. Their songs move with kind of a love-sick kick, neither sounding too happy or too sad. The main problem with their 7th record, Blame it on Gravity, is that the 97's don’t take enough chances, instead sticking to their guns, which leaves the music feeling lethargic and labored because of it.

The album starts slow with the wannabe sing “The Fool.” It’s a nice exercise in alt-pop-country, but by the second verse the song sounds tired and Rhett Miller sounds bored singing it. Of course, one bad song isn’t something to pan an album for, but when the majority of the thirteen songs sound as tired and lazy as the opener, it becomes hard to put the CD on for a second spin.

There are high points, like the sunshine, nostalgia trip “Ride,” where Miller begins to match the mood of the music, sounding like he’s finally into the record. “Ride” represents a solid 97's track, infusing a kind of old school folk premise with rock ethics, creating something that stands up listen after listen after listen. “Ride” shows the band experimenting with a harder sound, turning up the distortion and toning down the acoustic rhythms, treading into more alternative territory. But despite this moment of clarity and attempted innovation, the band plummets right back into their normal groove on the next song.

It’s not that this is necessarily a bad record, since for fans of the band it represents more of the same, and if you liked the rest of their catalogue, chances are you’ll like this. But for those of you who are looking for a little more, Blame it on Gravity fails to provide. It sounds like a good band that’s a little tired, relying on what feels safe to them, afraid to take their music up a notch. Hopefully the 97's find their footing for their eighth outing.

--Matt McGraw