The songs that make up American Primitive, the 13th studio album from the venerable Texas mainstays the Old 97’s, finds the band as feisty and loud as their mid-90s starting point. They’re a little grayer, likely suffering some hearing loss from standing in front of amps for decades, but 30 years into their career (the band officially marks their Pearl anniversary this year), the Old 97s are still barreling down the tracks at full speed like their namesake.
Recorded in a series of quick studio sessions, much like their earliest efforts, the band relied on feelings for a lot of the album. “This was the first record we’ve ever done with zero pre-production,” says frontman Rhett Miller. “It’s us working completely on instinct, leaning on 30 years of playing together to come up with something on the fly rather than overthinking any of our choices.”
The band is still squarely in their standard alt-country mode here, pulling in just as many rock influences as country. And that template is set from the beginning with the dark and rowdy “Falling Down.” Similarly, the stellar title track, the groove-heavy “Somebody,” and the upbeat “Magic,” find the group in full bar band mode. Conversely, they manage to slow things down a bit on songs like “Where The Road Goes,” “Honeypie” and the oddly satisfying “By The End Of The Night” (oddly, because the song begins with elaborate whistling that bring to mind everything from GNR’s “Patience” to Peter Bjorn And John’s “Young Folks,” and as off-putting as it is at first, it quickly grows on you).
Produced by Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists, Neko Case), the band took advantage of recording in Portland to bring in R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey of The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5 to guest. Over the course of more than a dozen records, the Old 97’s have experimented a bit and tempered their sound from time to time, but American Primitive is a return to their Clash meets Cash roots.
