Early Tracks
If you favor the more aggressive and reckless Old 97's ofWreck Your Lifevintage as opposed to the more polished and poppy songsters ofFight Songsfame, this eight-song EP oughta do the trick. Bloodshot compiles four songs from two original seven-inch singles and adds four outtakes from theWreck Your Lifesessions--all were recorded at various points during 1995. The unrelenting rhythmic propulsion, the wild-eyed vocals, and the ferocious guitars that defined them in their salad days are all present and accounted for here. Rhett Miller's shrewd, half-sarcastic, half-soul-bearing lyrics make tracks like "Ray Charles," "Por Favor," and "W.I.F.E." both charming and chafing. Bassist Murry Hammond handles lead vocals on the two tamest tracks, the touching (really) acoustic train song "Sound of Running" and an appealing, straightforward cover ofJohnny Cash's "Let the Train Blow the Whistle."Early Tracksreminds us that, at its best, alt country isn't a forced, heavy-handed combination of competing styles but a natural meld that works because punk rock and country music share the same urgency, honesty, and direct style of communication--whether it's punctuated by a lonesome fiddle or a crunching guitar.--Marc Greilsamer