Middle Brother

I don't usually write about something I've only had a few weeks.  Sure, I did it with Wild Flag, but man, that's just such a great album!  I suppose every now and then I get a bug up my ass to show that I don't just sit around and listen to ancient records.  The other thing besides me not having this for very long is that John McCauley is in Deer Tick, and I already wrote about one of their albums on here and I made a pledge to myself to try my damnedest not to put a second article (I mean, they aren't exactly reviews, are they?) about a band until I hit 50 articles.  Then all bets are off.  I can just go on about whatever I want.  I kind of do that anyway, but there's actually a little (very little) thought behind this!

Middle Brother is the aforementioned McCauley of Deer Tick, with Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes.  Now I've never really checked out Delta Spirit or Dawes, but based on how much I seem to really love this album, I'm going to have to correct that oversight.  Especially when it comes to Delta Spirit.  Matt Vasquez really knocked me out with his songs on here.  I still think I like McCauley's songs best, but I'm a big fan of Deer Tick so I'm nice and comfortable with John's approach.  McCauley's songs are the most ramshackle and sloppy, and that's what I like.  And before you get pissy and try to argue with me, I think it takes great craftsmanship to write and play Rock N' Roll that sounds like it's the first time a band ever played a song, but it never falls apart.  I think that's a lot more work than a lot of people give it credit for.

Vasquez has written what's got to be my all time favorite song in the world right about now.  I could listen to Blue Eyes all day.  The kind of country kind of Stonesy sound is built on an earwig of a riff, and where I'm usually completely happy just to have one or two good lines in a song, Vasquez just seems to have a wonderful way of looking at things.  A line from the opening verse is what grabbed me right away,

A soft kiss is a hard goodbye
Been knocked out since yesterday

I think that's just great and it really made me pay attention.  My favorite part of the song is a complete jumble that I really had to read to get straight because it's convoluted, but it really works, at least for me.


Told myself that you're the one
And I told myself I could get you back
When I came back you still weren't mine
Then I left again and you still weren't mine
I'm back again so just be mine
I am so tired of runnin'


That really doesn't look like it would work, but it does for me.

Then they toss Portland in, and I'm just on board with these guys all the way.  I always want to think that an odd Replacements song like that is kind of a wink to fans of that horribly overlooked group (sort of like a band playing a Big Star song years ago), but the more I think about it, the more I think it's nice to hear any Replacements songs covered.  Middle Brother does a great job with Portland, and it's a nice way to close the first side.

So I'm really glad I picked this up finally last week.  I've been meaning to grab it for ages, but this has been one of those records that's at the store when there's a couple of "Oh man, I've been looking for this!" records and before I knew it almost a whole year went by since it was released!  And now I'm gushing about it here after just a week.  So is it possible that I'll get bored with it?  Nah, I don't think so.  I have a feeling that Taylor Goldsmith's songs will all be the kind that grow on me, and McCauley's songs are his usual top notch stuff.  So I'm pretty comfortable saying that if I had bought this last year, and I bothered to do a Top Ten List, this would have been in my top five.  If you haven't checked this out yet, you really should, especially if you're one of those "there hasn't been any good music since blah, blah, blah" people.