Artist: Middle Brother
Album: Middle Brother
Label: Partisan Records
Release Date: March 1
Grade: C-
There's an old cliché about country music that says every song is either about the artist's girl, the artist's truck, or the artist's nation. There's also a cliché about traditional folk music that says nothing innovative has come out of the genre since Bob Dylan. In the case of Middle Brother's self-titled debut, both clichés ring completely true.
The musical vision of John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit, Middle Brother is billed as a sort-of country/folk supergroup. "Super" might not be the most fitting adjective.
The album kicks off with "Daydreaming," a song that's probably meant to be sentimental and heart-rending but fails miserably. The guitar part is simplistic, hokey, and devoid of any real emotion, while the vocals grate miserably against everything else in the song.
"Daydreaming" also features the first of many references to country music's ubiquitous pretty girl that broke the singer's heart. The guys of Middle Brother either have complicated love lives or know country music convention a little too well, because the next two tracks deal with basically the same subject. At least references to making "my country proud" abate until the fourth track, the creatively titled "Middle Brother."
It's remarkable how uninspired and derivative Middle Brother is – both the band and the album. Other tours de force in generic convention include "Wilderness," about friendship, and "Portland," about the everyday disappointments of an unnamed protagonist that's a bit down on his luck.
As is to be expected from a three-man country/folk band, instrumentation isn't exactly innovative or interesting. Everything starts and ends with vocals, guitar, and percussion, all of which are used in exactly the way one might expect. Although many might appreciate the band's folksy acoustic guitar or occasional country twang, many more will undoubtedly find it boring.
There's a cliché about how middle children are given the least amount of family attention. Unless your heart was broken repeatedly by a blue-eyed country girl or you have something against originality, Middle Brother should be treated the same way.
E-mail: arts@ubspectrum.com
