Rhett Miller “Rhett Miller” (Serial Lady Killer, 2009)

Irresistible and intelligent power pop from Old 97s front man

The impossibly youthful looking Rhett Miller is a busy man. Not only has he fronted the powerpop/country/rockers the Old 97s for fifteen years but this is his fourth solo album in the same period, which makes all the more impressive that he maintains such a consistently high musical standard.

Opening song “Nobody Says I Love You Anymore” sets the tone. A light and airy piece of pop with a hooky chorus and couplets like “Hollow your heart out and hold out your hope/ God give me strength and a good length of rope" to demonstrate his songwriting chops. He follows this with “Like Love” , which comes on like a country “Mr Blue Sky” and “I Need To Know Where I Stand” which has an a melody that’s catchier than swine flu and a harmonic chorus that’s lighter than Nimble. Elsewhere the delightful early lover naivety of “Bonfire” contrasts with the dubious lothario who narrates “Another Girlfriend” (“the last thing I need is another girlfriend/two’s enough for me”) and the post affair despair of “Haphazardly.” Throughout Miller allies the industrial strength pop tunes he’s best known for with equally killer lines that are among the best he’s ever written and the results are infectious and irresistible.

Date review added:  Sunday, October 25, 2009
Reviewer:  Jeremy Searle
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Rhett Miller website