Review: “1000 Dollar Car,” by Bottle Rockets


TRACK 7

“1000 Dollar Car”

From Bottle Rockets’ Not So Loud (Bloodshot)

Liner notes: “A thousand-dollar car, it ain’t worth shit/You might as well take your thousand dollars and set fire to it,” groans Brian Henneman, using wheezing harmonica and lazy banjo to underscore his woe.

Behind the music: Henneman was a roadie for alt-country pioneers Uncle Tupelo in the early ’90s before forming the Bottle Rockets. Cut at a club in a converted schoolhouse in the band’s home base of St. Louis, Not So Loud trades the usual scruffy rock for acoustic settings that emphasize the quartet’s witty songwriting.

Check it out if you like: Drive-By Truckers, Todd Snider, Neil Young, and other champions of the underclass.

Click here for more music features from Mother Jones.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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