Old 97s - They Made A Monster: The Noise Trade EP

Boy did I used to like me some Old 97s. It's been a hot minute since I've indulged in their live show, but I sure saw a gang of them behind the first handful of records. I'm pretty sure Alex and I were at their first NYC show at Brownies, a show notable both for being pretty aces and for first exposing a potential issue that became a much bigger deal down the line: I go up to Rhett and try to buy a copy of their first Hitchhike To Rhome and he tells me to try Tower, yet when the lovely Alex went up and asked, suddenly one appeared. An eyebrow was raised. Subsequent shows and records were consistently amazing, as were the stories and acts of douchery by a certain band member, but the songs and band were so good, you could almost let it slide.

Recent years have seen said same member desperately trying to leave the band behind for a solo career, attempts that have been met with a staggering amount of indifference by the fans and the odd precedent of Rhett opening his own shows with what I can only assume are his solo songs. Solo aspirations aside, at the end of the day, Old 97s butter the bread and as such the gents are reissuing their aces third record Too Far To Care in expanded form with outtakes and an extra disc of unreleased demo delights. This three song EP has three tracks not on the reissue, two of them unreleased, plus the acoustic demo of Salome. It also happens to be free and pretty decent, so step on over to the Old 97s web presence and grab The Noise Trade EP here.

R