Music Review

The Believer

The Believer by Rhett Miller, published by Verve Forecast

Reviewed by Jeff McCord

March 2006

Rhett Miller’s innate talent and charisma have shone through the blazing cowpunk of the Old 97’s for more than a decade. His life seems a charmed one: He has kept his boyish good looks into his thirties; he’s married to a model. Clearly, it ain’t enough. The Dallas singer’s latest solo effort, The Believer (Verve Forecast), aspires to something more; it plays like an against-type bid for pop stardom. Tuneful yet empty power ballads, like “Fireflies,” pile up against the pallid pop schematics of “Meteor Shower” and, thankfully, a few loose-limbed rockers. It’s only on these tunes—“Singular Girl” and the Elvis Costello–like “Ain’t That Strange”—that Miller is in his element. Aspiring to a multifaceted career is one thing. Yet toss-off refrains such as “You gave me the reason/For feeling like I do” won’t get him there anytime soon.

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