Search - Old 97s :: Drag It Up

Great for grownups....

Tim | Charlotte, NC United States | 09/07/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I really think that some of the other reviewers here should have used the kid's review form, because I'm guessing some of them aren't actually adults.



"Where are the clever lyrics?" one of them asks. Well, here are just three of many examples:



"Looking down she tells you things are looking up." (Adelaide)



"He's got the goods but he's not good for his word" (The New Kid)



"I'm on Wounded Knee/and we're at Waterloo." (Won't Be Home)



Of course, those lyrics might get lost on those who have no idea what Wounded Knee and Waterloo are, but my feeling is that most 97's fans are intelligent enough to get those references.



A few reviewers have said that the album is "too slow". To them, I say there's a Green Day album coming out soon.... go get that.



And still others, I imagine, are looking for a repeat of 'Satellite Rides'. As good as that album is, I'm glad the 97's didn't try to emulate it.



'Drag It Up' is an album by adults, for adults. The 97's are all in their 30s by now, and most (if not all of them) are married with children. So it's only natural that songs about getting drunk and hooking up have fallen by the wayside. In fact, the only song that fits into that category ('Coahuila') sticks out like a sore thumb, and could easily have been left off the album.



Instead, we get songs about adults falling in and out of love ('Won't Be Home', 'Bloomington'), adults realizing their youth and dreams are behind them ('Valium Waltz', 'Adelaide'), adults grown cynical by the 'flavor-of-the-month' culture we live in ('The New Kid'), adults who've grown from high school losers to success stories ('Friends Forever'), and even a song about dying too young ('No Mother'). Perhaps this is why the kids just don't get it.



A few of these songs are among the best this band has ever recorded. 'Adelaide' might be the best 97's ballad since 'Salome'. 'Won't Be Home' and 'The New Kid' rank right up there with 'Barrier Reef' and 'Rollerskate Skinny'. And 'Bloomington' would sound at home on a Beatles album.



Even the lesser songs on 'Drag It Up' are good ones. 'Borrowed Bride' has the catchy chorus of 'Life comes apart at the seams, it seems' (another clever lyric, by the way). 'Blinding Sheets of Rain' is a classic country weeper, and 'In the Satellite Rides A Star' has a slight psychadelia feeling to it.



All in all, this CD may not have the energy of 'Too Far To Care' or 'Satellite Rides', but like the 97's themselves, it's deeper and more mature than anything they've offered to date."

Pretty Good, But Something's Missing

J. Oliveira | California | 01/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Old 97s' edginess is missing on their latest album. Their mixture of punk and alt-country is heard on only half of the songs on this album. The rest, while not bad, seems like continuation of the tone and themes of Rhett Millers solo album, The Instigator. Drag It Up is a worthy follow-up to Satellite Rides, it's just nothing amazing or ground-breaking. If you're a longtime fan, you will of course want this. If this would be your first Old 97's purchase, I'd recommend instead Too Far To Care or Satellite Rides."

Finest 97's album since Too Far to Care.

J. Trussell | colorado | 08/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great album. On Fight Songs and Satellite Rides, the band seemed to be attempting to weight themselves more towards their poppy leanings, but this album is just more genuine. The songs range from extremely energized (won't be home, new kid) to whispery meandering (valium waltz, blinding sheets of rain) and everywhere in between.



For those of us who started our addiction with Hitchike to Rhome, all I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you, Old 97's, for giving us patient lifers a very fine gift."