Middle Brother - Middle Brother

I’m from the Bob Dylan school of “listen to the words, man”, however, I also require strong melodies that hog tie me like The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" did when I was a kid.  That’s my brand of bourbon.  That’s the kick I can promise with the albums that I share.  Now, with no further introduction, allow me to take you back to ever so distant 2011.

“I’ve been looking for some time, in a room full of numbers for my prime”, howls Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez on the raggedy “Blue Eyes”, the second track from collaborative super-group Middle Brother’s self-titled debut album.  He is joined along side Dawe’s Taylor Goldsmith and Deer Tick’s John McCauley for an enjoyable, laid back, 12 song album cut in my beloved Nashville, Tennessee.

What makes Middle Brother such an easy album to fall into is these three songwriters simply kicking back and having fun.  It plays like a vacation from their full time projects and sounds like they’re having a damn good time doing it.  Rock n roll is supposed to be fun, after all.

The looseness and lonesome vulnerability is teed up out front on this album. “Listen for a while to the neighbors having sex, wishing I could lay my aching head upon your breast” from opening track “Day Dreaming”, nods to the beautiful fingerpicking style of Townes Van Zandt and thus begins your journey through the ups and downs of Middle Brother. I’m in. What's next?

Harmonies!  Loud and proud in the first chorus, like sunshine penetrating undrawn curtains in the morning, a hungover morning that is, the guys sound like they've been singing together their entire lives. Great harmonies aren’t a standard in todays music and these guys nail it every time over the span of 50 minutes.  It's more in tune with Laurel Canyon in the 60's than most things that come out of Nashvegas these days. 

Middle Brother shuffles you through nights of boasting and boozing awaking to mornings of heartaches and hangovers.  A celebration of Southern music, if you will. Proof that these Californian's and lone Rhode Islander do in fact know the roots of rock n roll. 

Concluding with "Million Dollar Bill", the entire piece comes to a close with possibly the best track on Middle Brother.  Giving each songwriter a verse, the song captures the essence of this collaboration- how three voices, personalities, and views come together as one. 

The lyrics are fun.  The instrumentation great.  The emotions both north and south.  Middle Brother is a great listen, whether it’s background at a party or given personal attention in your headphones.

This was a fun idea, D-Love. Although I'm sure my punctuation is spotty and my grammar poor (I did the best I could, Luke!), my taste in music is from the heart, as is yours.  I look forward to the albums you have coming my way friends.

All the best, I want great. 

John S Krueger

8/15/13