Review: The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

I wrote a review of the new Avett Brothers album for this week's East Bay Express:

North Carolina's Avett Brothers approach their major-label debut with a heady adventurousness, perhaps trying to bottle their excellent and frenetic live show while sticking close to the themes that have driven the band for a decade.

Working with famed producer Rick Rubin, the band reaches for a bigger and often rowdier sound — including plenty of piano and a rock 'n' roll backbeat with more drums than ever — leaving their rootsy bluegrass as an accent that colors in the edges.

While that might sound as if the Avetts are working against their strengths, the real revelation of I and Love and You is that the band is versatile and talented enough to pull it off with the same passion and straightforward tenderness that made Emotionalism one of 2007's best albums. Their songwriting blossoms from its core honesty into songs about friendship, family, love, challenges, doubt, and striving for the right things in life.

The opening title song is a gradually swelling cello and piano ballad that highlights both the ache and the buzzing excitement of starting over. "Laundry Room," the album's next most memorable song, layers piano and strings on a bed of guitar and banjo picking, and the Avetts' superb harmony vocals, buoyant enough to dig hope out of heartbreak: Tonight I'll burn the lyrics, 'cause every chorus was your name.

In expanding their sound, the Avetts have crafted an album of abundant thrills, and while not quite a masterpiece, I and Love and You continues the band's long ascendancy.

DOWNLOAD:
The Avett Brothers - I And Love And You

Video: Avett Brothers @ Bookman's

The good folks at Bookman's have posted video of the Avett Brothers in-store performance last Thursday:



Check the other two songs here.

The Avett Brothers

On the verge of a tremendous 2009, North Carolina's Avett Brothers are visiting Tucson tomorrow, with a 5 p.m. performance at Bookman's on Grant before the evening's show at the Rialto Theatre, with Magnolia Electric Co.

I've been prepping all day, listening to the band's amazing blend of energetic, joyous and heartfelt songs. The Avetts play a brand of acoustic music that nobody else does - somehow taking bluegrass, country and folk building blocks and making loud, raucous rock music.

I missed them the last time they were in Tucson, so I'll catch 'em twice tomorrow to make up for it. The Tucson Weekly interviewed the band about Thursday's show, their new album and what it's been like see their fortunes rising so quickly after nine years of steady touring.

The Avetts are jumping from Ramseur Records to Columbia for I and Love and You, produced by none other than Rick Rubin and certainly one of my most anticipated albums this year (after Dylan, Wilco and Neko Case). The release date is Aug. 11.

I may have come to the band a bit late, but for the past year or so I've been wrapped up in Emotionalism, one of the most refreshing albums I've heard in ages. It's catchy and simple, intense and honest, and a sing-along record that I just can't wait to hear live. And I've been told their live show is one of the best around.

FWIW: the band is pretty active on Twitter.

And like I said before, I think I'll go nuts if they bust out this amazing Springsteen cover:



DOWNLOAD:
Avett Brothers - Will You Return?
Avett Brothers - Matrimony

Avetts do Bruce; Magnolia Electric added to tour

The folks over at BruceSpringsteen.Net have discovered that the Boss' "influence has broadened outside of the mainstream rock community." Gee, really? But despite the lame-as-it-can-get introduction, the whole notion of Hangin' On E Street is great.

Musicians, from the frequently Boss-compared Gaslight Anthem to the rather unexpected Wyclef Jean (who's hardly up-and-coming, but anyway), sit down to talk about what inspiration they draw from Springsteen's music. Bring a video camera and throw in an exclusively recorded cover version and there you have it.

I think I'd go apeshit if the Avett Brothers were to bust out "Glory Days" for their May 7 show at the Rialto:



And I just saw that Magnolia Electric Co. is added to the bill. I've seen this Jason Molina project twice - at Club Congress and at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland - and the Neil Young comparisons definitely ring true. This is going to be one hell of a show...

DOWNLOAD:
Avett Brothers - Swept Away
Magnolia Electric Co. - Lonesome Valley
Magnolia Electric Co. - The Dark Don't Hide It (live)

Avett Brothers in Tucson May 7

With a highly anticipated - and as of yet unnamed - new Rick Rubin-produced album scheduled for release this summer, The Avett Brothers are in good position to make huge waves in 2009.

Today comes good news from both the band, who announced a big U.S. tour starting in April, and NPR's All Songs Considered, which announced The Avett Brothers will be one of their featured acts March 18 at SXSW. The show will be streamed live and archived for podcast, and NPR promises previews of songs from the band's upcoming release.

On May 7 the band hits Tucson for a show at the Rialto Theatre. I missed them the last time around, opting to see all four bands on the bill for The Swim's CD release show, and received such glowing reviews later that night that I wished I'd tried to cram more into that already packed night, so there's no way I'll let this one go by.

Check out the All Songs Considered blog for more news on SXSW podcasts.

DOWNLOAD:
The Avett Brothers - Will You Return?
The Avett Brothers - If It's The Beaches