Rhett Miller by Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller, lead singer of alt-country pop rockers Old 97’s (you may know them as the band Vince Vaughn didn’t show up to see with Jennifer Aniston in The Break-Up), has been his own side project for about a decade now. He has tended to be more pop, less rockin’ country than the 97’s. His self-titled fourth album Rhett Miller lacks the killer hooks and early ‘90’s pop sensibilities that made his earlier works immediately likable if a bit vapid. However, a closer listen reveals that Rhett, always a strong lyricist, has sharpened his writing to a penetrating titanium scalpel gleefully applied to (ex-)girlfriends, himself, and society as a whole. Indeed, the perils of modern relationships, if not exactly a novel subject matter, one with endless material, is his primary hunting grown. He covers with more insight and a lighter touch than Pete Yorn and his ilk. Nowhere is this more evident than on lead-off Nobody Says I Love You Anymore, which details the modern romance where, ahem, nobody says I love you or acknowledges emotional attachment until it’s too late. “I don’t need heaven, ‘cause heaven’s right here, whispering ‘Goodbye, Goodbye in my ear’.” “Celebrate love when it’s over, Celebrate love when it’s gone, Celebrate love when it’s over, When nobody knows you are wrong.”

Second song Like Love takes the universality of his opening thesis and applies it with specificity to a recent break-up. “She could talk for hours on end, the girl of my dreams, and never say a word. She wanted things I couldn’t afford, like a house full of laughter every night. She wanted things I couldn’t afford, like love.”

The remainder of the CD, which includes stand-outs I Need to Know Where I Stand, If It’s Not Love, and the shuffling, alcohol-soaked Another Girlfriend, continues to explore the current relational landscape of the post-twentysomething unattached. Interestingly, part of that landscape is the reality the issue is not a lack of prospective mates or a lack of yearning for connection. It seems to be a matter of a momentary inability to appreciate connectivity or institutionalize it. Some moments are, of course, more important than others, and, when strung together, form habits then character traits. With this demographic quickly expanding (full-disclosure, this author has a vested interest in this landscape himself), guiding lights or at least warning sirens from other, observant fellow travelers with a knack for insight will prove indispensable. Place Mr. Miller among the more helpful.

There's not a ton of free Rhett out there, but here's a nice live version of "I Need to Know Where I Stand"