By Matt Harness
Depending on who’s counting, Lean Forward is the Bottle Rockets’ 10th studio album; their third with Bloodshot Records. Their last effort, Zoysia came out in 2006, so it’s about time these guitar-driven rockers – whose sound is reminiscent of gravel in a blender – returned with some new material.
Released to positive reviews on August 11th, the record rocketed to No. 1 on the sales chart of the Alliance of Independent Media Stores in its first week. (The Alliance is comprised of 28 stores in 21 cities with the goal of highlighting independent music.)
And that’s without the help of Chicago’s independent record stores, who have never cooperated with AIM, according to Alliance ringleader Eric Levin, of Criminal Records in Atlanta.
So much for the record stores. Let’s take a look at what the critics have to say about Lean Forward.
* Paste: Atop the stinging double-stop guitar licks of
the Bottle Rockets’ no-frills latest, optimism and good intentions knock heads with the reality of human imperfection.”
* No Depression: “The Bottle Rockets have long been one of America’s great bar bands, so it’s nice that their new album sounds like four dudes standing in a room playing together. Main dude Brian Henneman’s voice is up front and unaltered, the drums are full of pop, and the guitars are alive and tough.”
* Spin: “This St. Louis outfit’s ninth studio album encompasses virtually every alt-country staple the group helped revive more than a decade ago (the open road, small towns, freedom metaphors involving large bodies of water). But rarely have they been arranged with such happy-go-lucky optimism.”
* Twangville: “As Brian Henneman explains in ‘Hard Times,’ it’s not that he’s broken, just out of gas, a nice metaphor for where a lot of folks are today.”
* Corner Shop Studios: “The record also has some lackluster moments that tip-toe around the album rather than encompassing one track in particular, ostensibly rearing their ugly heads as dull chord progressions or punchless builds, nothing to alert the ‘boring police’ about but nonetheless.”
* The A.V. Club: “Henneman’s bluntly drawled, spoken-sung poetry feels tired, and forays into arthritic funk like ‘Hard Times’ certainly don’t help. (The song’s line ‘I ain’t broke down, I’m just out of gas’ feels even truer than it may have been intended.)”
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Devil’s Play
In other news, Devil in a Woodpile, which suspiciously disappeared from its regular Tuesday night gig at the Hideout, is playing its final show on Friday at the Glenwood Arts Festival in Rogers Park. Rick Sherry and company go on around 9 p.m.
That sucks.
‘Woodpile was one of the first bands I saw live when I moved to Chicago six years ago when I serendipitously slipped into the Hideout one evening. They provided me with an early lens through which I viewed the music scene here. And what a great picture it’s been.
Such a rich sound done simply.
They will be missed.
So get your ass up to Rogers Park and get your groove on as Sherry slaps around the washboard.
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Bloodshot Briefing appears in this space every Friday. Matt welcomes your comments.
Posted on August 20, 2009