The Avett Brothers
A Carolina Jubilee
Ramseur Records
By B.J. Weikert
 The Avett Brothers,
of Concord, North Carolina are a three-headed monster composed
of two real live brothers and one whose music fits like he could've
been family. Scott Avett, 26, sings and plays banjo and stomp
drum. Younger brother Seth also sings and plays guitar, piano,
kazoo and stomp cymbal. 32-year-old Bob Crawford finishes out
the band with added vocals and a tremendous facility on the standup
bass. This trio really knocked me out with their brand of old
style music. Although their music includes various incarnations
of country, bluegrass, folk, honky-tonk and ragtime, it's all
filtered through a punk-rock attitude. The Avett's rough-hewn
charm gives their music a sense of delight and excitement rarely
found in the offerings of the normal run-of-the-mill alt-country
bands on today's scene. Carolina Jubilee is an irreverent
mixture of styles and the songs are full of everything that makes
this brand of music so damn cool: heartache, angst, humor and
love. The Avett Brothers are currently on an extensive coast-to-coast
tour promoting their new release and are garnering great reviews
all over. One observer likened their live performance to seeing
a "bluegrass version of the early Who".
 Back in 1998
Scott and Seth had a rock band called Nemo, and it was during
this time that Scott Avett began hooking up with friends and
like-minded musicians to drink and play acoustic country and
bluegrass music. Having been an early Doc Watson fan, brother
Seth soon joined in with the group and they began to call their
get-togethers "The Back Porch Project" or "Nemo
Downstairs". Around the end of 2001, the hard rock sound
of Nemo came to an end and the door was opened for the brothers
to finally gel as a whole new band with a whole new sound. What
had originally been only a side project for after hours "playing
around" and the occasional street performance had become
The Avett Brothers band. In 2002 the first release Country
Was came out. I found this album to only be somewhat out
of the ordinary, but within its structure there was a definite
indication of better things to come. When the Avetts returned
to the studio to begin work on their next project, Carolina
Jubilee, they were prepared for the task. Unlike Country
Was, where the songs were written and recorded without being
toured or played in a live setting, the new stuff was painstakingly
worked through and developed. The Avett Brothers wanted to capture
the intensity of their live shows and translate this power into
the studio release, and to their satisfaction it worked. I'll
readily state that the new album Carolina Jubilee transcends
Country Was in many ways. It's more attention grabbing
and in your face, and features a more fully realized front porch
stomp feel reminiscent of The Chickasaw Muddpuppies and other
like-minded bands. The album's more easy-going qualities are
also further developed and bring to mind such brotherly harmonies
as The Louvins or the Everlys. The album as a whole is in greater
focus and more well defined than the previous attempt.
A Carolina Jubilee leaps out of the gate to a shit-kickin',
swaggering start with "The Traveling Song". This cut
calls to mind early Violent Femmes with all it's hootin' and
hollerin'. My poor, long dead Pappy would have called 'em a bunch
of "yahoos" after hearing this one. Song number two
is also a winner, although for different reasons entirely. "Love
Like The Movies" starts off with film projector sound effects
and old-time intro music like they used to play on the old newsreels.
This song has a slightly warped Bakersfield aura around it. The
Beatle's version with Ringo singing Buck Owen's "Act Naturally"
comes to mind. This song tries to raze the old feeling that life
and love can be just like in the movies. Lyrics like the following
state it best:
So you want to be in love like the movies
Well in the movies, they're not in love at all
With a twinkle in their eyes, they're just sayin' their lines
So we can't be in love like the movies
Now in the movies they make it look so perfect
And in the background they're always playin' the right song
And in the ending there's always a resolution
But real life is more than just two hours long
"Sorry Man" is an infectious ballad about a guy
left standing out on the porch of his true love's house holding
his hat after being rebuffed by the girl's mother as "a
sorry man". I liked the "who's sorry now" ending
to this one.
"Me And God" is my favorite song on the album. I
like its inherent truthfulness to the protagonist's views and
ideas as to just what a Greater Being might be. Add in the fact
that doubts are mentioned as to the worthiness of salvation and
how it all adds up in the end and what makes a man good or godly;
the track boldly goes where so many in our drive-thru lane times
simply fear to tread. It features a blue-grassy / country vibe
and goes on to describe our protagonist's religious views in
no uncertain terms:
Well I know a preacher, he's a real good man
He speaks from the good book in his hand
And helps all people when he can
But me and God don't need a middleman
The song continues with the last line of the previous verse
repeated in the bridge. Nice banjo picking flavors the melody
and the acoustic guitar and bass form up the background nicely.
The song goes on to say:
And I thank the lord for the country land
Just like Pa, I thank him for my hands
And I don't know if my soul is saved
Sometimes I use curse words when I pray
"Pretty Girl From Raleigh" continues the "pretty
girl" songs that were started with "Pretty Girl From
Matthews" on the first album Country Was. The new
album contains three "pretty girl" songs also, including
"Pretty Girl From Locust" and "Pretty Girl From
Annapolis". Seth Avett says, "It's just a thing we
started as a nod to some of the girls who we've encountered along
the way. There's more in the works for the future". These
songs are all good examples of the Avett Brothers softer side.
They're all ballads and are well played and interesting from
a lyrical standpoint as well. "Pretty Girl From Locust"
features a soft, well-executed piano solo that segues into ear-pleasing
brotherly harmonies. The vocals really shine here and give the
song a rough, homespun enlightenment that's ragged in all the
right places.
"I Killed Sally's Lover" has a fast-paced Flatt
and Scruggs feel and the pickin' dances along like a deer in
the headlights. Close one eye and pick a lane folks 'cause this
song will drive you along like a drunk with a suicide knob on
the wheel. This song goes on about shotguns, knife blades, killin'
and buryin'. It's all about fugitives on the run, bleedin' hearts,
grievin' and going to the penitentiary. Everything that makes
a good murder ballad is here in spades and the frenetic pace
of the song will give you a nice kick in the pants. One other
song I'll mention from the album is "The D Bag Rag".
This is a ragtime style instrumental that'll have you tappin'
your toes like a vagabond street bum in search of the next bottle
of cheap wine. When the kazoo solo kicks in it'll blow the top
off of your skull and rain confetti.
Almost all of the cuts on Carolina Jubilee deserve
repeated listening, and although not a flawless work by any means,
the album still comes highly recommended if you're into old time
country and bluegrass with a refreshing kick. Old albums by The
Louvin Brothers had great titles such as Tragic Songs Of Life
and Satan Is Real. Many of the songs that the Avett Brothers
write also have this deep-rooted feel about them, but there's
more to this picture than meets the eye. The songs on Carolina
Jubilee also sound like two young brothers who have listened
to The Violent Femmes, The Ramones and The Beatles, and that's
a good thing.
www.theavettbrothers.com
Contact BJ Weikert at bj-at-rockzilla.net
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