Because it’s one of those memories that couldn’t be grimmer, singer-guitarist Rhett Miller has no trouble recalling the first time the Old 97’s played Vancouver. The year was 1998, a time when live music in this city was deader than Kurt Cobain. Adding to the indignity, Miller and his bandmates—bassist Murry Hammond, guitarist Ken Bethea, and drummer Philip Peeples—found themselves booked into the now-defunct Starfish Room, a coffin-black shithole where the vibe ruined all but the most brilliant of shows. As if those two strikes weren’t bad enough, there was more.

“There was a U.S.–Canada Olympic hockey game on the TV right as we came on-stage,” the upbeat Miller says with a laugh from a Chicago tour stop. “Dude, I hate to say it, but there was a crowd of maybe six people who had driven in from Alberta, and that was about it.”

What a difference a decade makes. These days, the Old 97’s hang out with the likes of Battlestar Galactica’s Tricia Helfer, who stars in the video for “Dance With Me”, the first single from the group’s new album, Blame It on Gravity. On the high-exposure front, Miller and his bandmates got major silver-screen time in the 2006 hit comedy The Break-Up, a Vince Vaughn/Jennifer Aniston flick in which a long and pivotal scene takes place at one of their concerts. And if such good fortune doesn’t have the Old 97’s excited about life, consider the fact that Blame It on Gravity marks a strong return from a four-year hiatus. During that time off, kids were born, career goals were reevaluated, and, in the case of one member, work habits were radically altered.

“I used to have a tendency to micromanage a lot,” Miller says. “I was so excited that I wanted the other guys in the band to hurry up and do what I wanted them to do. So I had to learn to let them be themselves and do things at their own speed. And once I let go and stopped pushing so hard, I learned all over again that this band is a very fun thing to be in.”

That sentiment is certainly borne out by Blame It on Gravity, which finds the 15-year-old band sounding surprisingly revved up, considering how long it’s been in the trenches. “The Easy Way” makes a gritty return to the group’s garage-y early years, with Bethea turning in a smoking six-string clinic. Those mourning the demise of No Depression will find lots to love in the understated Americana of “Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue”, while the band’s well-documented love of British Invasion pop surfaces in “I Will Remain”.

Proving that the Old 97’s are still willing to push themselves, Blame It on Gravity is also coloured by surf-country, second-wave punk, cool-kat jazz, and—most surprisingly—throwback hip-hop in “Dance With Me”. Miller is deservedly proud enough of the record that he’s been willing to make a difficult swap: life on the road versus time at home with his two young kids. Given that sacrifice, his mission is a simple one: to make sure that he never leaves the stage feeling like the tradeoff wasn’t worth it.

“I think we have something to prove, even now,” he says. “So I’m up there shaking my ass, which hopefully makes the people in the crowd realize it’s okay to shake their asses too. If I don’t make it all right, it becomes a thing where they stand there with their arms crossed, looking down their noses and evaluating things. That’s just not fun.”

No more fun, it might be argued, than the Starshit Room back in the dark days.

The Old 97’s play Richard’s on Richards on Friday (June 13).