I love the new Old 97's FIGHT SONGS! A great pop album but alt.country it is
not. The weakest song, "Crash on the Barrellhead," is the most alt.country
(and not a Rhett Miller song). I'm pretty well convinced that Rhett is the
best pop lyricist of the past 5 years. Sometimes it's just great lines and
sometimes, like "One Brown Shoe," its a great composition.
The new Wilco is cool but not as immediately accessible as the Old 97's.
Sure does sound like the Beach Boys. I admire Jeff Tweedy for being willing
to risk failure and opening himself up to a lot of criticism. I work with
someone who used to work in a record store with Jeff and I can already hear
him making fun of a lot of aspects of SUMMERTEETH.
Getting back to Old 97's, I've been trying to put together a best-of
compilation but I'm having a dickens of a time sequencing it. I'd love to
get some suggestions (and when I'm not falling asleep at the keyboard I'll
post a couple of mine).
Tony
