The album opens with the thumping “Grand Theatre,” a blasé love song about two people who happen into each other and then into a relationship. “I tell you that I love you, but its nothing that you don't know, so would you like to dance,” Rhett Miller sneers. “Every Night Is Friday Night Without You,” finds the band veering off into punk-a-billy swinging through lines like “Now I ain't no saint, but I ain't such a freak, on the days of the week, I work hard.” “The Magician” cranks the tempo still further, finding Ken Bethea and Murray Hammond strumming almost double time, and Miller's vocals polish and stretch themselves out in perfect counterbalance to create the albums first real love song. On “You Were Born To Be In Battle” they borrow heavily from Johnny Cash with a strong Luther Shuffle, and Murray Hammond singing with his darker and denser vocals. “Born to be In Battle” winds up being one of the stronger tacks on the album, and a strong candidate for the best song of the year. It sound almost like a classic ballad, gravely walking a man through each of the seasons of his life and the struggles he will find within them. “The Dance Class” maintains the tempo, but moves from a march to a swing as it lightens the mood. “I am in love with whoever you are,” Miller quips and he eases into the songs affable swagger. “We had a smoke on the water, and we laughed for all it was worth,” Miller rasps on “Let the Whiskey Take the Reigns a shuffling, deliberately awkward song about the night of a bad break up. “I had a terrible vision about life outside of this bar, she kept talking about walking,” he concludes. “The bottom line's been snorted, the bottom card's been dealt,” Miller opens the albums second stand out track, “but if you die fearing God and painfully employed, no you will not go to heaven, you'll got to Campaign Illinois.” Campaign, Illinois is a striking song that stands firmly in the rock of country rock, and sings about the quandary of the working class thoughtfully, recognizing the disaster for the worker ants if they ever actually did kill the queen. These songs create a solid album of straight ahead country rock that fits nicely with the Old 97's back catalog and peers like Ryan Bingham and The Drive By Truckers.
As the album draws to a close, however, it takes a decidedly sudden turn across the pond. Oddly enough, The old 97's most strongly evoke the Pogues on their tribute to the Lone Star State, “A State of Texas.” This marks a sudden departure for the album, a move towards a more Brit-rock sound than the dirty country-rock that proceeded it. “You Smoke Too Much” is not so much a bad song, but its Greenday underpinnings are a bit jarring in the context of an straightforward Y'alternative album. “Please Hold On, The Train Is Moving” better blends the sounds between the first and second half of the album by cranking up the twang on Hammond's guitar while Miller channels Johnny Rotten for all he is worth. “The Beauty Mark” is the obligatory turn through Coldplay territory, with a smattering of early Elvis Costello. Miller, however, is spin tingling as he pushes his voice up into a near falsetto with startling clarity. It is easy to forget sometimes just how pretty his voice can be in the grittier contexts it usually finds itself. This twist at the end of the album is odd, and distracting, as none of these songs are particularly bad. Its just that, as a whole, this block of songs does not sound like the same album as the block of songs which proceeded it.
Grand Theatre, Volume One is an album created for B adjectives, blazing, blistering bombastic and yes, in its own way, beautiful. Its a dark collection of stories told with a slight slant, of people working to seem less emotionally attached then they are, people being beaten by the odds and people finding strange bits of comfort in the most mundane places. It brings together the best parts of country and rock and roll, pulling them into the darkest and dingiest of places, and wringing every last drop from every single note. While there is a bit of disconnect between the first and second parts of the album, every song is well constructed with powerful, yet interesting lyrics, intensely good instrumentals and production that stays well out of its own way. All things being equal, it is a fine addition to the Old 97's cannon, and easily one of the better albums of the year.
You can suppor the Old 97's by purchasing this album at Amazon | iTunes.
If you prefer your music to be more than ones and zeroes you can purchase the album at Amazon.
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