Music Review: The Bottle Rockets, South Broadway Athletic Club

By Melissa Bratcher

True fact: your new favorite song is probably on new album from St. Louis’s indie-Americana stalwarts, the Bottle Rockets. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite, because South Broadway Athletic Club is packed to the edges of the grooves with such great tracks (assuming you’re listening on vinyl).

There’s a midwestern, working class sensibility to the music of the Bottle Rockets. It’s a little gritty, but it’s also incredibly hooky with some understated guitar work and honest lyrics. Lead singer Brian Henneman has a distinctive voice—a creaky gate with a warm low register—and he writes slice of life lyrics (paeans to the working man, songs about lost ways of life, tributes to every day pleasures) and the Bottle Rockets cloak them in amazingly catchy music. The guitars (Henneman and John Horton) are heavy but subtle, radio friendly but just outside of the mainstream.

“Monday (Everytime I Turn Around)” kicks things off: a universal sentiment about the inevitability of the beginning of the workweek that somehow is optimistic at the same time (“Tuesday means the weekend’s almost here”). The chorus is ferociously memorable and it would be a pop song, save for Brian Henneman’s singular voice. It’s the kind of song the protagonist of the song “Building Chryslers” could appreciate. “Building Chryslers” builds on nicely dirty guitar and a smart riff with lyrics about a working stiff on the assembly line and the decline in pride of craftsmanship (“he don’t care how they turn out”).  “Ship It On The Frisco” is a bluesy and soulful tribute to hopping trains, with a subdued organ line. Mark Ortmann’s drumming is particularly effective here.

My two favorite tracks come one after the other. “Big Fat Nuthin’” is a tribute to, well, doing nothing. It’s captivating and charming as hell with a great singalong chorus. After that is “Dog,” the kind of song that speaks volumes in few words: “I love my dog, he’s my dog / If you don’t love my dog, that’s OK / I don’t want you to, he’s my dog.” It’s sweet and a little sentimental with chiming guitars and completely delightful.

The love songs are unconventional like you’d expect. “Big Lotsa Love” has a lyrical nod to Tom Petty (which makes sense, there’s more than a little Petty-ness running through South Broadway Athletic Club, as well as a hint of Springsteen) and a rugged guitar solo from John Horton. The sitar-like guitar buoys “XOYOU.” Richly melodic, it’s an upbeat corker with a wonderful bar room swagger. There’s always a flip side to love songs, though, and the protagonist to “I Don’t Wanna Know” knows there’s something afoot with his girl, but he just buries his head in the sand. Horton’s guitar work is just heavy enough and the bridge is delightfully dark. “Something Good” is an arena friendly yet understated elegy for a relationship.

The Bottle Rockets should be enormously proud. South Broadway Athletic Club is a tremendous record. It’s hooky, it’s honest, and it’s furiously enjoyable.

South Broadway Athletic Club was released on October 2 through Bloodshot Records. Check out the band’s website for tour dates.