Old 97's bring alt-country sound to A2

The "next big thing": The Holy Grail, the object of a relentless quest by music critics, industry weasels and hardcore fans trying to identify not where the action is but where it's going to be; trying to be the first one to the scene so that once it becomes popular they can exploit it and then abandon it in search of another "next big thing."

Whether the currency is dollars (in the case of the industry) or hip credibility (in the case of critics and fans alike), the futures market is booming in popular music.

The alternative-country genre has been a hot commodity in this volatile market in recent years and the Old 97's targets of some of the most intense speculation. The band's debut album, "Too Far To Care," was released on Elektra Records this summer,

The Old 97's will show their stuff at the Blind Pig on Saturday night.

the culmination of a heated major-label bidding war and the subject of the highest of expectations from gold-digging industry insiders, critics and scenesters alike.

The band's meteoric rise to major-label and critics'-darling status featured all the trappings of the "next big thing" - gigs at industry showcases like CMJ and South By Southwest, two well-received but little-heard indie albums and the ubiquitous bidding war.

"We started like a lot of bands do, just a bunch of buddies who get together and play music," 97's bassist Murry Hammond said in a recent interview from his home in Dallas, Texas. "We played together all of '93 and we really started to get going a little bit by the end of that year; we played our first out-of-town gig at the end of that year. Then we played a gig in Chicago and people just went crazy for it and we hooked up with (Chicago-based alt-country label) Bloodshot. That Bloodshot thing was pretty fast and furious - we kinda went up there, and they said 'Y'all wanna work together?' And we said, 'Yeah, that'd be great, let's work together.' And we rushed another record ("Wreck Your Life"), did it in about 3 days. That one was only out about six months before we had our big South By Southwest thing that got the major-label interest started."

Since the band's signing with Elektra, the major-label hype machine has kicked into high gear. But peel away the superficial rhetoric and you're left with a solid, accomplished record - unlike many buzz bands created entirely by publicity departments' smoke and mirrors, the 97's can actually walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

"Too Far To Care" is chock-full of jumpy, upbeat pop-rock rooted in rockabilly, honky-tonk and bluegrass. Songs like "Barrier Reef" and the lead single, "Time Bomb," sound like Hank Williams fronting a band all hopped up on speed, their amps cranked to 11.

Hammond, who refers to the band's sound as "fast and trampy" or "antsy and agitated," sees the 97's as unique in an alt-country scene that he feels is inclined to bow to more traditional gods of country-rock.

PREVIEW
	Old 97's Saturday night Blind Pig With the Volebeats

"Most of these bands come right out of Gram Parsons and Neil Young, and we didn't grow up listening to that," Hammond said. "We grew up listening to the Beatles, Black Flag, the Clash and X, that kind of stuff. (Guitarist) Ken (Bethea) and I grew up in the country, so we were definitely well-versed in that country stuff, but by the time we hit high school, we were sick of it. We were from a small town, and we were like, 'We wanna get out of this town! I'm sick of this country music!' So we got into all this alternative stuff - he was Mr. Replacements and X and all that kind of stuff, and I went the hard-core punk direction. (With Old 97's), we took all that and combined it with recent loves of things like bluegrass."

Aside from these more contemporary, rock-oriented influences, the band is also distinguished from the norm by the wit and wisdom of its lyrics, thanks to chief songwriter Rhett Miller. A master of wry wordplay, Miller makes his mark with lines such as these from "Barrier Reef": "I sidled up beside her, settled down and shouted 'Hi there, / My name's Stewart Ransom Miller, I'm a serial lady killer' / She said, 'I'm already dead,' that's exactly what she said."

"Rhett definitely likes being the smart-alecky, clever one. He's a private school boy," laughed Hammond, "so he likes being clever for clever's sake. But he's also very good at it. I'm real proud of that aspect of what we do. That's one of our selling points - Rhett's discovered the secret of singing a very happy song about a very sad subject."

Miller is indeed skilled at "laughing so he doesn't cry," as Hammond said; witness these irony-laced lines in "Streets of Where I'm From": "I recall when I was 23 / Wondering how anyone could fall in love with me / Now I'm old; hell, I'm well past 25 / And I can't seem to fall in love no matter how I try."

He can also pen lyrics that eschew humor entirely and cut painfully close to the bone, as in "Salome": "I'll stay all night, well, I'll wait right here / The full moon might work magic, girl, but I won't disappear / And I'm tired of making friends and I'm tired of making time / And I'm sick to death of love and I'm sick to death of trying / And it's easier for you, it's easier for you."

"'Salome' is my favorite song on ('Too Far To Care')," Hammond said. "It's different; it's just so plush and pastoral. And it combines everything we do well."

It is in this vein that Hammond sees the band moving in the future, exploring the possibilities of this 'different' kind of sound.

"The Old 97's don't have 30 elements to work with," he said. "We only have about four or five. So whenever you have a chance to add a sixth element you gotta take it - and that's our future, there. That's what we're trying to do now, to say 'OK, where can we take this where it's still the Old 97's sound, but it's not just simply putting out the same album over and over?' With a band like us that's a trick to do. We'll do it, but it'll be interesting to make the next record."

For the time being, the current record will have to suffice. But Saturday night, faithful fans and curious newcomers alike will have the pleasure of seeing the band in a live setting, bringing its energetic show to the Blind Pig. As Miller sings in "Curtain Calls," "I'll be long gone soon but tonight I'm here."

10-10-97