Middle Brother
Yesterday marked the release of an album I’ve been waiting for a long time. In 2009 the lead singers of Delta Spirit, Dawes and Deer Tick came together for a collaboration project: Middle brother. If you know anything about these bands individually you can suspect the result was beautiful. If not, let’s have an overview of the talent.
Matt Vasquez brings a unique blend of rasp and conviction of soul.
Taylor Goldsmith brings something a little epic and anthemic to the table.
And John McCauley, among other things adds texture to complement and contrast the other two.
The Result? Americana greatness.
Honestly, when I heard about this project I was skeptical. Many such super groups and collaborations fail to pass muster. I’m thinking of the second Traveling Wilburys album off the top of my head. Someone should have taken the mic from Bob Dylan. This is NOT one of those albums. Every member has their chance to shine. This is cigar smoking and whiskey drinking music. It’s full of grit, rasp and feeling. It makes me feel like I’m in the room with three friends who simply enjoy making music together. A room where I might have to wave away smoke with my beer bottle.
The highlight of the album, for me, is Blue Eyes. A Vasquez love song is always appreciated. He’s more of a social and political activist. Blue Eyes is relentless. I’m a die hard Delta Spirit fan though so..you know. A big surprise to me was Theater. I had been waiting for it’s release by Delta Spirit since I saw this video. Imagine my surprise when it was on the Middle Brother album.
I had two concerns when I heard about this project. The first of these is that Taylor Goldsmith would be hidden by Vasquez and McCauly’s textured vocals. This was…in error. Goldsmith adds a much needed third layer to the mix. His tracks break up the album in a good way, and honestly the album would have SERIOUSLY suffered without him. He knocks it out of the ballpark with Blood and Guts. In true Goldsmith style this track it’s slightly bigger than a song. Any song that produces an emotional reaction is a win to me and he does that nearly every time.
My second concern was that McCauley would dominate the vocals. This, perhaps, was a little more justified. He did have more time at the mic and it’s obvious. However I’m not sure it’s a bad thing now. It’s definitely a mood album and McCauley’s vocals add to that mood. I think it was a good decision, he seems to be a prolific song writer. I can’t imagine some of these songs vocalized by anyone else. This McCauley track was released as a Christmas gift/teaser.
In a world where undue focus is given to polished pop music this stands out as a proud reminder of musical roots. I think it’s the perfect response to Monsters of Folk. I felt that album title a serious misnomer. This album, however, did not let me down.
If you want to check it out I recommend iTunes because there’s a bonus track included.
