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The Old 97's most recent release; Drag It Up is a kick-ass record full of big Tex-Am roots, rawkin' Crazy Horse guitars, and a frowsy Clash snarl. Coming off the band's biggest success to date (the near-perfect Satellite Rides), Drag is a consummate follow-up. Not because it's better, but because it's just the right amount of different. Over the past decade, a handful of Old 97's records went by as the band tinkered with their sonic limits. This time, they've pulled it way back and done it the old fashioned way. And now they've got themselves another under-the-radar gem.
The Texas-based roots-rockers have managed to retain a solid chunk of Satellite's breakthrough pop and deftly mix it in with Rhett Miller's stanky cowpunk DNA. Aided by the super-strong stomp of the album's single "New Kid" and a newly-dusted-off, four-year-old "Valium Waltz," this is just good rock music played by a band too few seem to know about. But maybe the coolest thing of all is that they made Drag vintage-ly--with old equipment, old studio, one microphone for the vocals, and all manner of instruments and musical styles. The flaws that could have been shined up with studio gloss are some of the best moments. The end result, I'm happy to report, not only sounds vintage, but sounds excellent.
I've got a sneaky suspicion that, in a few years' time, Drag it Up will be recalled in the same breath as the Mavericks' Trampoline, Wilco's Being There, and Los Lobos's Kiko--solid roots-rock follow-ups to notable beginnings that have become masterpieces. Most importantly, each of those albums was just the right amount of different from the one before it.
Scott Caffrey
JamBase | New York
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