(New West)

www.newwestrecords.com

Thank you, Rhett Miller, for picking up a telecaster again, and helping the Old 97's find their long-lost twang.  After seven albums, it's almost undeniable that Rhett Miller writes great stories into his songs, with hard-beaten characters that just can't make things work out right.  On Blame it on Gravity, the Old 97's turn up their amps and dust off their cowboy boots to fill Rhett Miller's songs with enough hip-swinging energy to almost forget that the songs' protagonists always end up empty-handed.

Few people write about frustrated desire the same way Rhett Miller does.  On the Spanish tinged "Dance With Me," a young bride is faced with the temptation of taking a brief Latin lover while her husband watches the scene.  It's a complex moral situation, told from the point of view of both the men, and Ken Bethea's guitar fills the song with the fiery sexuality that the song's characters find so damn tempting.   

The Old 97's greatest strength remains their candor, conviction, and quick turns of phrase.  On "No Baby I," Rhett Miller sings "You've got tears/that fall like pearls/blame it on gravity/blame it on being a girl."  It's a sentiment that would normally be considered a bit sexist and belittling is saved by the near-hyper enthusiasm of the band, favoring earnestness over political correctness.  And the Old 97's are at their best when they are at their most earnest.  On "Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue," Murry Hammond sings the most memorable chorus on the album with the heart-rending resignation of a man who has fallen of a horse too many times and doesn't have the gumption to get back on it. 

Overall, the Old 97's sound like they're having fun again.  The self-consciousness that bogged down Drag It Up and both of Rhett Miller's solo albums is gone, and though they've been releasing albums for fifteen years now, they still sound like four kids from Texas enthusiastically in lust with guitars, girls, and a country swing. 

Standout Tracks: "Dance With Me," "No Baby I," "Color of a Lonely Heart is Blue" BRIAN CREECH