Six songs; 21 minutes. That is The Gleam.
The latest release from the Avett Brothers is an incredibly mellow collection, unlike the North Carolina group's previous efforts. The usual string-snapping, high-energy acoustic guitars and frantic vocals have been abandoned for a more Prozac-inspired sound. The rolling bass and banjo have been dropped and two acoustics have been picked up.
Earlier releases could be described sonically as a pleasant blend of a Civil War-reenactment bluegrass band and an unplugged Allman Brothers. The Brothers abandon this interesting musical dichotomy on The Gleam in favor of a mid-20th century folk sound. The change allows for more emotion-packed lyrics and guitar playing to come through, as opposed to the feel-good sounds they focused on before.
Brotherly musical efforts have, in the past, given us some of the best high-profile feuds. One may remember the great comedy provided by those ever-drunk Englishmen Noel and Liam Gallagher of Oasis or the bickering Robinson brothers of the Black Crowes. But rather than using each other as punching bags after a long night of bar-hopping, the Avett brothers use each other to create a curiously comforting harmony of two very independent voices.
The organic lyrics and voices that seem to accompany so many southern bands seem to draw from the sounds of Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and James Taylor on The Gleam. Earthy lyrics such as "If it's the beaches' sands you want, then you will have them/ If it's the mountains bending rivers, then you will have them," seem to echo more of the Guthrie sound, contrasting with a backdrop of sweeping violin, piano and guitar more common to a James Taylor epic.
While not known for their guitar chops, both of the brothers are accomplished guitar players in their own right. The talent of each is displayed in the varying guitar phrasings of each track. The tacky staccato of "When I Drink" is offset by the rolling guitar of "Sanguine." The guitar solo, which has been all but abandoned in recent years, is utilized with much taste in songs such as "If It's The Beaches," where impressive Spanish guitar-playing highlights the closing of the song. When the Spanish guitar phrasings are paired with a violin and a brief banjo break, "If It's The Beaches" stands as one of the album's
strongest tracks. The other solid track of the album is the peppy yet somber song "Backwards with Time," which is also the only track where the down-home vocals are given more of a standard pop sound. At the same time, "Backwards" utilizes classic Avett Brothers banjo sounds, which they had all but barred form the recording sessions for The Gleam.
In the end, however, the six tracks are simply not enough to give the album any traction by itself. Only two songs stand on their own, and these aren't enough to hold the album together for the listener. "Yardsale," a partially political song that follows a weapon from its murderous owner to a rummage sale years later, is brilliantly written but digresses as the song progresses. The great image of the sword is lessoned by the static music that is laid down around the lyrics. "When I Drink" devolves into a clichéd alcohol montage that many of us are all too familiar with. As the verses of the song tell of the author getting in a fight with the air and seeing things that are not there, the tired lyrics seem to slow the song dramatically. The quickly-chanted refrain of the song — "It's the only way to keep that last bit of sanity/ Maybe I don't have to be good but I can try to be/ at least a little better than I have been so far" — is a catchy departure from the droning monotone of the verses but is not enough to salvage the song as a whole.
A half-and-half ratio of good to bad within a song simply doesn't make for good listening, especially when this ratio is projected onto the whole album. The brief flashes of strong songwriting on The Gleam are too spaced out to hold the attention of the listener from the beginning of the album to end — even if that is only 21 minutes.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5
