Brand New Year (The Bottle Rockets album)
| Brand New Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1999 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Label | Doolittle/Mercury | |||
| Producer | Eric "Roscoe" Ambel | |||
| The Bottle Rockets chronology | ||||
| ||||
Brand New Year is an album by the American band the Bottle Rockets, released in 1999.[1][2] The first single was "Nancy Sinatra".[3] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[4]
Production
[edit]After leaving Atlantic Records, the Bottle Rockets decided to focus on recording a rock album, concluding that their recent rock songs were stronger than their country ones.[5] Brand New Year was produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel.[6] Many its songs were inspired by people and stories from the band's hometown of Festus, Missouri.[7] Bass player Robert Kearns joined the band prior to the recording sessions.[5] The band and Ambel listened to Shania Twain's Come On Over during the sessions and decorated the studio with Twain posters and artwork; frontman Brian Henneman thought that the band was the loosest it had been in a studio.[8][9] The title track appears in two versions, one electric and one acoustic; Henneman half-jokingly likened it to a "Hey Hey, My My" effort, saying that it was an attempt to give thematic weight to the album.[10] "Gotta Get Up" is about the unchanging daily grind of work.[11] "Headed for the Ditch" alludes to Neil Young's Decade liner notes.[12] "White Boy Blues" is about old guitars that are so expensive that only very wealthy consumers can afford them.[13]
Critical reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [14] |
| Chicago Sun-Times |  [15] |
| Robert Christgau |  [16] |
| Lincoln Journal Star | [17] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Record Guide | [18] |
| Spin | 6/10[19] |
| The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music | [20] |
The Chicago Tribune called the Bottle Rockets "the thinking person's hillbilly bar band".[21] The Village Voice said that the band uses "foursquare riffs and dual-lead lines to kick up some boogie dust in their wake-kinda like Georgia Satellites, but with real grime under their fingernails."[22] Stereo Review concluded, "When a roots-rock band's songs start wearing hangdog expressions, the sense of unbridled fun that is the genre's calling card is lost."[23] Spin noted that "it's easy to mistake the Bottle Rockets for a musical goof."[19]
The Independent said that "one of America's very best bar bands return with a darker, denser and generally louder disc, with their biting humour intact."[24] Robert Christgau praised "Headed for the Ditch" and "Gotta Get Up".[16] The Lincoln Journal Star called the Bottle Rockets "America's last great rock 'n' roll band."[17] The Chicago Sun-Times labeled the album the band's "grungiest set of bar rock yet".[15] The Santa Fe New Mexican included Brand New Year on its list of the 20 best albums of 1999.[25]
Track listing
[edit]| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Nancy Sinatra" | |
| 2. | "Alone in Bad Company" | |
| 3. | "I've Been Dying" | |
| 4. | "Sometimes Found" | |
| 5. | "Headed for the Ditch" | |
| 6. | "Helpless" | |
| 7. | "Let Me Know" | |
| 8. | "Brand New Year" | |
| 9. | "Dead Dog Memories" | |
| 10. | "The Bar's on Fire" | |
| 11. | "White Boy Blues" | |
| 12. | "Gotta Get Up" | |
| 13. | "Love Like a Truck" | |
| 14. | "Another Brand New Year" |
References
[edit]- ^ Avery, D.M. (April 19, 1999). "Triple A". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 58, no. 614. p. 31.
- ^ Sutherland, Scott (September 30, 1999). "Bottle Rockets tip the scales Lucinda's way". Portland Press Herald. p. 2D.
- ^ Hay, Carla (August 7, 1999). "Doolittle's Bottle Rockets find smaller is better for 'New Year'". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 32. p. 11.
- ^ Kassulke, Natasha (September 2, 1999). "Bottle Rockets with Hangdogs". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 26.
- ^ a b Johnson, Kevin C. (August 22, 1999). "Bottle Rockets Cap Their Country Side with a Straight-Ahead Chaser of Rock". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. C4.
- ^ Terrell, Steve (December 24, 1999). "Also recommended: Brand New Year by the Bottle Rockets". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P15.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (September 17, 1999). "Bottle Rockets Rock 'n' Drawl". The Washington Post. p. N17.
- ^ Jarrett, Michael (2014). Producing Country: The Inside Story of the Great Recordings. Wesleyan University Press. pp. 263–264.
- ^ Gamboa, Glenn (October 6, 1999). "With new album, Bottle Rockets soar". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Akron Beacon Journal. p. 14.
- ^ Masley, Ed (September 24, 1999). "Ready for take-off". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
- ^ Catlin, Roger (August 19, 1999). "Brand New Year The Bottle Rockets". Calendar. Hartford Courant. p. 6.
- ^ "Bottle Rockets". Trouser Press. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ Walker, Donna Isbell (January 20, 2000). "Bottle Rockets hope for explosive year with latest album". The Greenville News. p. E1.
- ^ "Brand New Year Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ a b DeRogatis, Jim (August 8, 1999). "Spin Control". Showcase. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 15.
- ^ a b "The Bottle Rockets". Robert Christgau. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
- ^ a b Wolgamott, L. Kent (January 28, 2000). "Bottle Rockets blast off in a 'Brand New Year'". Ground Zero. Lincoln Journal Star. p. 17.
- ^ (The New) Rolling Stone Record Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 96–97.
- ^ a b Milner, Greg (November 1999). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 11. p. 193.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin Books. p. 59.
- ^ Kot, Greg (August 22, 1999). "Recordings". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 11.
- ^ Weingarten, Marc (September 21, 1999). "Tangible as an ice-cold longneck". The Village Voice. Vol. 44, no. 37. p. 80.
- ^ Puterbaugh, Parke (October 1999). "Brand New Year / Song & Dance, Man". Stereo Review. Vol. 64, no. 8. p. 154.
- ^ Perry, Tim (January 8, 2000). "Album Reviews". The Independent. p. 35.
- ^ Terrell, Steve (December 31, 1999). "Remembering Favorite Music of the '90s". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P38.