Roadkill

Bottle Rockets at Stubb's, Thursday, April 30

When the Bottle Rockets played the Austin Music Hall last September, they opened for John Fogerty. Their second Atlantic release, 24 Hours a Day, had just been released to rave reviews and Fogerty was out telling Rolling Stone he was more than happy to be handing the boys from Festus, Missouri the alt.country torch. According to lead Rocket Brian Henneman, however, they didn't need it - they were already getting burned by their own label.

"It wasn't working out," says Henneman of the band's association with Atlantic, which ended last month when the label dropped Festus' favorite sons. "It was sucking pretty bad, pretty hard. We basically wanted to get the hell out right after the Fogerty tour was over because they didn't do a hell of a lot of anything for us. The album was out and there was no promotion whatsoever."

According to Henneman, not only weren't the Bottle Rockets advertised as being the only opening act on what he calls their "super-secret magical mystery tour with John Fogerty," but then Atlantic didn't follow up at retail to capitalize on the pairing. If the band did make new fans on the road, says Henneman, finding the album was damn near impossible. And radio? "The radio people were working Sugar Ray, Matchbox 20, and Jewel. They were doing fine with radio."

In fact, Henneman believes the Bottle Rockets' failure at Atlantic may actually be indicative of a bigger problem with the y'alternative genre itself. "I don't think that in this day and age that this style of music has any business on a major label," he says. "I don't know what the hell they could do with it. None of the [major labels] are into career development in any way anymore.

"And what radio are they going to work it to? These days it's all about radio hits, and unless it goes to country radio, where's it gonna go? It ain't going to stations playing Matchbox 20. In 1976, it would have been on the rock stations, but not today."

Now that the Bottle Rockets are "out of jail," back on the road, and looking for an indie deal, Henneman now says Atlantic was probably just trying to cash in on alt.country by signing the Bottle Rockets, and that his band may have been too quick to let them try.

"There was a little success with Uncle Tupelo or Wilco, and then it was heck, we all need one. It's the same old story. We were like one of the grunge bands that came too late. This kind of music has never taken off and never has throughout history. It should just stay below the radar, in the trenches, away from the big game that flies over your head."

- Andy Langer