Brand New Year (The Bottle Rockets album)

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Brand New Year
Studio album by
the Bottle Rockets
ReleasedAugust 10, 1999 (1999-08-10)
GenreRock
LabelDoolittle/Mercury
ProducerEric "Roscoe" Ambel
The Bottle Rockets chronology
Leftovers
(1998)		 Brand New Year
(1999)		 Songs of Sahm
(2002)

Brand New Year is an album by the American band the Bottle Rockets, released on August 10, 1999.[1][2][3] The first single was "Nancy Sinatra".[4] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[5]

Production

After leaving Atlantic Records, the Bottle Rockets decided to focus on recording a rock album, concluding that their recent rock songs were stronger than their country ones.[6] Brand New Year was produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel.[7] Many its songs were inspired by people and stories from the band's hometown of Festus, Missouri.[8] Bass player Robert Kearns joined the band prior to the recording sessions.[6] The band and Ambel listened to Shania Twain's Come On Over during the sessions and decorated the studio with Twain posters and artwork; frontman Brian Henneman thought that the band was the loosest it had been in a studio.[9][10] The title track appears in two versions, one electric and one acoustic; Henneman half-jokingly likened it to a "Hey Hey, My My" effort, saying that it was an attempt to give thematic weight to the album.[11] "Gotta Get Up" is about the unchanging daily grind of work.[12] "Headed for the Ditch" alludes to Neil Young's Decade liner notes.[13] "White Boy Blues" is about old guitars that are so expensive that only very wealthy consumers can afford them.[14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStar[15]
Chicago Sun-TimesStarStarStarHalf star[16]
Robert Christgau(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)(3-star Honorable Mention)[17]
Lincoln Journal StarStarStarStarStarStar[18]
(The New) Rolling Stone Record GuideStarStarStar[19]
Spin6/10[20]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties MusicStarStarStar[21]

The Chicago Tribune called the Bottle Rockets "the thinking person's hillbilly bar band".[22] The Village Voice said that the band uses "foursquare riffs and dual-lead lines to kick up some boogie dust in their wake-kinda like Georgia Satellites, but with real grime under their fingernails."[23] Stereo Review concluded, "When a roots-rock band's songs start wearing hangdog expressions, the sense of unbridled fun that is the genre's calling card is lost."[24] Spin noted that "it's easy to mistake the Bottle Rockets for a musical goof."[20]

The Independent said that "one of America's very best bar bands return with a darker, denser and generally louder disc, with their biting humour intact."[25] Robert Christgau praised "Headed for the Ditch" and "Gotta Get Up".[17] The Lincoln Journal Star called the Bottle Rockets "America's last great rock 'n' roll band."[18] The Chicago Sun-Times labeled the album the band's "grungiest set of bar rock yet".[16] The Santa Fe New Mexican included Brand New Year on its list of the 20 best albums of 1999.[26]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Nancy Sinatra" 
2."Alone in Bad Company" 
3."I've Been Dying" 
4."Sometimes Found" 
5."Headed for the Ditch" 
6."Helpless" 
7."Let Me Know" 
8."Brand New Year" 
9."Dead Dog Memories" 
10."The Bar's on Fire" 
11."White Boy Blues" 
12."Gotta Get Up" 
13."Love Like a Truck" 
14."Another Brand New Year" 

References

  1. "Brand New Year". Bandcamp. Retrieved February 8, 2026.
  2. Avery, D.M. (April 19, 1999). "Triple A". CMJ New Music Report. Vol. 58, no. 614. p. 31.
  3. Sutherland, Scott (September 30, 1999). "Bottle Rockets tip the scales Lucinda's way". Portland Press Herald. p. 2D.
  4. Hay, Carla (August 7, 1999). "Doolittle's Bottle Rockets find smaller is better for 'New Year'". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 32. p. 11.
  5. Kassulke, Natasha (September 2, 1999). "Bottle Rockets with Hangdogs". Rhythm. Wisconsin State Journal. p. 26.
  6. Johnson, Kevin C. (August 22, 1999). "Bottle Rockets Cap Their Country Side with a Straight-Ahead Chaser of Rock". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. C4.
  7. Terrell, Steve (December 24, 1999). "Also recommended: Brand New Year by the Bottle Rockets". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P15.
  8. Himes, Geoffrey (September 17, 1999). "Bottle Rockets Rock 'n' Drawl". The Washington Post. p. N17.
  9. Jarrett, Michael (2014). Producing Country: The Inside Story of the Great Recordings. Wesleyan University Press. pp. 263–264.
  10. Gamboa, Glenn (October 6, 1999). "With new album, Bottle Rockets soar". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Akron Beacon Journal. p. 14.
  11. Masley, Ed (September 24, 1999). "Ready for take-off". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. C1.
  12. Catlin, Roger (August 19, 1999). "Brand New Year The Bottle Rockets". Calendar. Hartford Courant. p. 6.
  13. "Bottle Rockets". Trouser Press. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  14. Walker, Donna Isbell (January 20, 2000). "Bottle Rockets hope for explosive year with latest album". The Greenville News. p. E1.
  15. "Brand New Year Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine". AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  16. DeRogatis, Jim (August 8, 1999). "Spin Control". Showcase. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 15.
  17. "The Bottle Rockets". Robert Christgau. Retrieved December 25, 2024.
  18. Wolgamott, L. Kent (January 28, 2000). "Bottle Rockets blast off in a 'Brand New Year'". Ground Zero. Lincoln Journal Star. p. 17.
  19. (The New) Rolling Stone Record Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 96–97.
  20. Milner, Greg (November 1999). "Reviews". Spin. Vol. 15, no. 11. p. 193.
  21. Larkin, Colin (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music. Virgin Books. p. 59.
  22. Kot, Greg (August 22, 1999). "Recordings". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 11.
  23. Weingarten, Marc (September 21, 1999). "Tangible as an ice-cold longneck". The Village Voice. Vol. 44, no. 37. p. 80.
  24. Puterbaugh, Parke (October 1999). "Brand New Year / Song & Dance, Man". Stereo Review. Vol. 64, no. 8. p. 154.
  25. Perry, Tim (January 8, 2000). "Album Reviews". The Independent. p. 35.
  26. Terrell, Steve (December 31, 1999). "Remembering Favorite Music of the '90s". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. P38.