Lonesome Brothers: "Mono" (Captivating Music 2006)

High Fidelity Lo-Fi

Lonesome Brothers aren’t so lonesome if their press release is anything to go by, various members of the band having either played on or for many luminaries of the Americana scene The Scud Mountain Boys being amongst the most important. With a pedigree like that one might be forgiven for expecting something out of the top drawer and we are not disappointed. What we get here are twelve tracks of well played, laid back acoustica featuring the usual suspects instrumentally speaking such as dobro, mandolin, ‘squeeze box’ and some beautifully understated slide guitar. Drummer Jim Weeks (he of The Scud Mountain Boys) plays what is referred to as ‘travelling kit’ which it has to be assumed is a hi-hat, a snare and a pair of brushes. Hooks, choruses and chord changes are all in their requisite places as are the harmony vocals. The whole thing washes over the listener like a breaker from a wave machine set to half speed and the water heated to just the right (body) temperature. Try to imagine a happy and content Neil Young doing an unplugged session, not necessarily in sound but in feel.

Then again there are lots of purveyors of acoustic Americana out there plying their trade so what is this cds Unique Selling Point? Well the answer is that for this outing Lonesome Brothers have eschewed studio trickery, over dubs, Pro Tools and even re-takes. The whole thing was recorded live into “…one fatass mic…” and in a “…tent made out of pink and white blankets…” Not sure why the colour of blanket should make any difference but it certainly works. The sound is exemplary, the playing tight and assured and the end result is a work of satisfying warmth and generosity. You need to be playing this at your Americana barbeques this summer. Incidentally their website, rather than providing mp3s of previous releases, provides lyrics and guitar tabs so that you can play the stuff yourself.

Date review added:  Thursday, July 27, 2006
Reviewer:  Paul Villers
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  www.lonesomebrothers.com