Bloodshot Records recent deluxe double disc reissue of The Bottle Rockets’ self-titled debut disc packaged with their sophomore effort The Brooklyn Side and a slew of bonus tracks is my pick for reissue of the year. There is enough bonus material (19 tracks of demos and live tracks) to make it a worthwhile buy for Bottle Rocket fans and if you’re new to the band you’re in for a 46 track treat! Remastered by Eric “Roscoe” Ambel the band rocks and twangs with both authenticity and a social conscience that unapologetically examines race and class. Of special interest to NoDepression readers will be the Brian Henneman pre-Bottle Rockets demos recorded with Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar including the band van breakdown song “Indianapolis”.
“Can’t go west, can’t go east.
I’m stuck in Indianapolis
With a fuel pump that’s deceased.”
Also included are a handful of tracks from The Bottle Rockets precursor Chicken Truck. The Bottle Rockets did flirt with fame when the rocking “Radar Gun” from The Brooklyn Side became a radio hit but that never translated into the recognition (or sales) the band deserved. This deluxe 2-disc set gives the albums another life and a new generation of alt-country fans a new old band to discover.
A track deserving a second life is “Wave That Flag”. It is unfortunately just as timely now in our post-racial black President electing society (yeah right) as it was twenty years ago:
“I’m a different kind
But I’m a rebel too
Like to do my own thing man
How ’bout you?
You can whistle Dixie all day long
If the tables turned
Wouldn’t you hate that song
Wave that flag hoss, wave it high
Do you know what it means?
Do you know why?
Maybe being a Rebel ain’t no big deal
But if somebody owned your ass
How would you feel?”
I wonder if Kid Rock’s heard it?
Like Chris Knight, there’s no debating authenticity and The Bottle Rockets. You don’t write a song like “1000 Dollar Car” if you grew up driving your parents’ BMW.
Highly recommended: Two discs worthy of both buying and receiving this Christmas.
