Ode To Uncle Tupelo

Old 97s: Grand Theatre Volume 2

Old 97s emerged in the mid-90s along with other alt-country acts, some long gone (Whiskeytown, Uncle Tupelo) and the rest-toughing-it-out (Drive By Truckers, Bottle Rockets). Here in 2011, the Dallas native undoubtedly belong to the first. Despite being nearly 20 years deep into twangy, alt-rock based career, Rhett Miller and company have clearly been wracking their brains, challenging the traditional LP format, where they raised eight times before.

Last year, the test run is a quartet album of new material during a scan a week of shows in the hometown favorite terrain of the Grand Theatre. The songs get the best home for the year 2010 have been selected appropriately titled Grand Theatre, Volume One. This included the rabble rouser roots "A State of Texas," odes to defects ("Let the Whiskey Take the Wheel "" You smoke too much ") and more mature, alternative-leaning tracks like" The Grand Theatre "and" Love Is What You Are ".

The Old 97s are a band most can agree never released a bad record. However, the 2000s have brought warning signs as to the group’s creative future: Miller embarked on a part-time solo project, re-issue connoisseurs Rhino released a 2006 best-of retrospective (often a sign the end is near), and their collective songwriting slowly drifted from the beer-soaked cowpunk of their rowdier mid-‘90s phase. Given the implosion of aforementioned alt-country torchbearers Uncle Tupelo and Whiskeytown, perhaps it’s no small wonder the Old 97s have trudged on as long as they have with their original lineup intact. That being said, there’s no need to beat around the bush with Volume 2 . Last year’s installment definitely hoarded the majority of the session’s best tracks, and given the premise of the Grand Theatre experiment, there’s really no reason to be up in arms. Fortunately, Miller and songwriting partner Murry Hammond have long had consistency on their side.

Miller, the band’s more refined vocal presence, opens the album with a pair of thumping rockers (“Brown Haired Daughter”, “I’m a Trainwreck”), as if to prove he hadn’t squandered all his best hooks on Volume One .

Deep Art Nature: Uncle Tupelo

Wikipedia -. "Uncle Tupelo was an alternative country music group from Belleville, Illinois, active between 1987 and 1994, Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy and Mike Heidorn formed the band after the singer of their previous band, The Primitives, left to attend college . ... Shortly after the release of large group label debut album Anodyne, Farrar announced his decision to leave the band due to a soured relationship with co-songwriter Tweedy.

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