Album of the Week - 3/17 - 3/23

#Fight Songs

Fight Songs is the fourth studio album by the Old 97’s.

The followup to their major label debut, Too Far to Care, this album contains many of the rock-n-roll and country aspects of their previous work, but it also starts to lean towards the pop side making some songs sound like Ben Folds without the piano. That being said, it does have some great charts on the album. For example, “Murder (Or a Heart Attack)” was ranked #176 on Blender magazine’s list of “500 Greatest Songs From 1980-2005.” It’s also speculated that “Crash on the Barrelhead” is about Ryan Adams, and reading the lyrics, I can kind of see it, but there’s no confirmation that I found.

My personal favorite track is “Oppenheimer” just because it’s so fun to sing along to. Telling the story of falling in love with a girl yet telling the listener that they’ve “been working it out” but they “have a long way to go.” Although it’s kind of depressing, it leaves a hopeful feeling at the end.