Gave this an initial listen last night, and it really is a classic example of a "return to form." Several up-tempo dance hall barnburners the likes of which we haven't heard from them since Too Far To Care.

I'm not saying it's their BEST album since then, but is definitely their most OLD 97's-y album since then.

RIYL: JAGGEG

I'm trying not to pre-listen to albums I definitely want to buy, so I'll have to wait until the release date to hear this, but thanks for the heads up.

I feel like that's been said about the last two and after hearing a couple of cuts, I'm skeptical. I don't doubt that musically it's going to be closer to the old stuff than the past few albums but Rhett's lyrics need to come around too. I miss his clever, pessimistic writing and that's been gone for a long, long time now.

I probably wasn't listening as attentively to the lyrics as the music, but there's a lot of that rat-a-tat-tat drumming serving as the familiar backbeat from their earlier days.