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"Christmas parties and all night fights/ I remember you sweet-talking
to me beneath the strung up lights/ Those days are gone now/ I know
I had everything to do with that…" The opening lines on
Rocky Votolato's latest record set the tone for the entire
record in a decidedly succinct way. The songs on The Brag And Cuss
are somber-hued and self-deprecating in the manner of all great American
music, relying on stories of loves lost and longing for the missing
passions of life. Votolato tells the stories of his protagonists with
an insight so profound and deep that it is hard to imagine he is singing
of anyone other than his own self. "Postcards From Kentucky",
with its lilting banjo lines and solid rhythms, paints the portrait
of a broken man, thick with drink and longing for the next thing that
life may throw his way, good or bad. The pace steps up a bit and the
mood gets a bit lighter on the immensely beautiful "Before You
Were Born". This song showcases Votolato's wonderful sense of
melodic majesty, featuring some of the finest lyrical allusion and
melodic grandeur to grace my stereo in years. The music on The
Brag And Cuss has a definite Americana flavor, filled with harmonicas,
acoustic guitars, stomping drums, and the occasional banjo or steel
guitar. The production is an exercise in perfection; each sonic spectrum
separated just enough to be vivid without detracting from the overall
sound-as-a-whole feeling that creates such an intimate and personal
vibe throughout the songs. As the album continues to unfold the listener
is given the sense of a great history of lives being discovered through
these songs, each one with a deep sense of personality and a strong
message of buried hope and love and beauty. Votolato succeeds in revealing
to the world that he has taken huge steps in his musical growth since
his last very, very good record, 2006's Makers. While that
record was filled with a burgeoning sense of indie rock mixed with
a darker Americana, the promise that was hinted at has come to fruition
on The Brag And Cuss, revealing the great depth and purpose
found in the simple literacy of this relatively unknown leader in
the underground folk-rock scene.
-L. Keane
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