South Broadway Athletic Club
by The Bottle Rockets
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User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
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  1. KnockKnock
    Mar 11, 2020
    8
    The first thing I noticed when I opened up the digipak CD of the latest Bottle Rockets offering South Broadway Athletic Club was the picture of a Rickenbacker guitar in the center sleeve. It is always a good omen when an album has a Rickenbacker pictured prominently (ex. Damn the Torpedoes) in the art work. Yes indeed the Rick foreshadowed another compelling effort from the Bottle Rockets.The first thing I noticed when I opened up the digipak CD of the latest Bottle Rockets offering South Broadway Athletic Club was the picture of a Rickenbacker guitar in the center sleeve. It is always a good omen when an album has a Rickenbacker pictured prominently (ex. Damn the Torpedoes) in the art work. Yes indeed the Rick foreshadowed another compelling effort from the Bottle Rockets. It is easy to get blasé about what the Bottle Rockets do well. Solid songs, solid musicianship, solid working class attitude. It had been six years since the last release of new Bottle Rocket material and the time off seems to have freshened them up and left them with a new car smell attitude. “Monday (Everytime I Turn Around)” opens the festivities and immediately the jangle of the aforementioned Rickenbacker is heard loud and clear in this direct blue collar lament. “Big Lotsa Love” follows, reflecting on the ups and sometimes down of a long term relationship. “Big Fat Nuthin’ ” is a wonderful little ditty about how a job can drain all your energy away even on the days that you are not working. “Dog” is a bit silly but after seeing the video for the song maybe it isn’t silly at all. When brings us to what I suppose is the centerpiece of this collection of songs, “Building Chryslers”. I was familiar with this song as it was included as part of the extra disc on the reissue of The Brooklyn Side as an acoustic demo. If it seems a bit outdated lyrically it is because it was written in the early 1990’s. Maybe it could have been updated to reflect the current situation of the union auto worker (or maybe the protagonist of the song could have been standing by the side of the road next to his broken down Toyota at the end) but I think it is fine as it is as it reflects the historical belief of the time it was written. Plus it has the extra bonus of being the best rousing ragtag guitar song on the CD. The rest of the tunes are a reliably melodic and yes the Rickenbacker chimes through brightly on most of them. My favorite of these being “Shape of a Wheel” a simple tale of worldly-wise perseverance.

    Alex Chilton was once asked if the music he was playing was anachronistic. Some people may ask the same question about of the Bottle Rockets, but it is an insulting sentiment. The music contained on South Broadway Athletic Club answers such sour drivel with a loud and proud flip of a musical middle finger.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81

Universal acclaim - based on 5 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Blurt Magazine
    Dec 18, 2015
    80
    Here’s an album from guys who have been making trouble for more than 20 years, and if they haven’t gotten better behaved with time, at least they’ve gotten better at it.
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  2. Boston Globe
    Oct 28, 2015
    80
    This 11th album is slighter than the group’s finest records yet there are enough emotionally true narratives here brimming with soul and bruised wisdom.
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  3. AllMusic
    Oct 28, 2015
    80
    South Broadway Athletic Club seems like a typical Bottle Rockets album on the surface, but dig a bit deeper and you'll find a set of songs as strong and emotionally powerful as anything this band has delivered since 24 Hours a Day.
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