A few thoughts vaguely related to some current threads...
So the great mystery of the O97s is now cleared up -- after hearing
only a couple of tracks on comps here and there, I now actually know
what they truly sound and look like and what the hype is about, after
their show last night at The Horseshoe in Toronto (which I attended
against my more responsible judgment). Damn if they aren't an
impressively energizing live band, as most of y'all know. I won't
detail the set, since I'm behind the curve here, but I'm surprised,
with Rhett's cute-boy charisma (I assume the fact that the six or
seven most attractive women in the room lined up directly in front of
centre stage was not a one-time-only phenom?) and the ridiculous
hookiness of the songs, that they haven't broken a little bigger.
The non-twanginess of the upcoming album seems a little overhyped,
judging by what they played from it last night, incidentally. But
while I was thinking how country a couple of the songs were (the West
Texas tributes had the most roots-soul, though as much Mexican as
country) I thought back to the usual P2 debates, and wuz struck by how
right Jon's been in the past to point out that the altcountry vs. HNC
battles often aren't, emotionally, so much about which is "real"
country so much as a difference in taste about the type of rock
involved in each case.
I know it's been said many times, many ways but: The punk/new-wave
aspect of the Old97s is as vital to their sound as Journey and the
Eagles are to Garth's - yet both obviously know their trad country too
(the cover last night was "Mama Tried"). I'd defend my Nick
Lowe/Replacements/Clash preferences over 70s MOR rock any day - and
it's not just my particular brand of nostalgia, though it's *also* my
particular brand of nostalgia - but I really do think it's ridiculous
to do it in terms of relative country-ness. There's a relevant
argument to be made about the importance of Glen Campbell 70s country
vs. outlaw 70s country to each of the two streams, too, but again
"realness" does in fact seem a foolish substitute for defining taste,
yardsticks of quality - I was real fond of the Old97s lyrics, for the
wordplay and humour, which in most of the HNC I've heard is overly
reliant on one reiterated dumb pun, tho that in fact might be more
country <kidding, kidding> - and so on.
I am coming round to thinking that what we're seeing is the fact that
rock in one form or another has overtaken country so much in the
culture that it feels like "roots" music to a broad demographic that
includes a lot of the former core country audience, so that
stone-traditional country is very marginal to all the commercially
partway viable versions. Or at least that's what I was thinkin' last
night. I had had a couple of beers, mind you.
Hm. I'm late for a dinner party. No time for second thoughts...
Carl W.
