AMERICAN CULTURE - Hey Brother, It's Been a While
You don’t need to be super plugged in to realize that Denver, Colorado has been having a moment in the last few years. A lot of it revolves around the label Convulse Records (GEL, MSPAINT, MILITARIE GUN…) and that scene birthed some awesome bands such as PUBLIC OPINION, DIRECT THREAT, CANDY APPLE and now AMERICAN CULTURE.
The album opens with local ambient-pop artist MIDWIFE, whose ethereal vocals are unmistakable, featured prominently on the song. A surprising choice and not her only appearance on the record. Anything that’s outside the box in Punk is often referred to as ambitious or pompous (I gave up trying to defend FUCKED UP), and this record doesn’t feel like that, but is definitely taking you in unexpected places. While rooted in Punk, AMERICAN CULTURE takes musical cues from lower-tiered Britpop (I love THE BOO RADLEYS personally) and 70’s powerpop. The latter I’m not as well-versed in but I could definitely see scrawny dudes in button-up shirts playing these riffs on weirdly-shaped guitars with much less gusto. Instead, the band brings sort of a slacker vibe thanks to the storytelling-like delivery of the vocals. And Frankly, the songs have no business being this good. The main point of reference for me would be a sobered-up THE STONE ROSES, but I feel like anybody into current bands like YOUNG GUV or HOTLINE TNT could easily get into this record. Perfect driving music in my opinion.
I haven’t dived into the concept of the record too much but it seems to revolve around one of the members having some sort of breakdown, going off the grid; and how his sudden disappearance and later resurfacing impacted his life and the people around him.
Released on Convulse Records. Listen here: https://convulserecords.bandcamp.com/album/hey-brother-its-been-a-while
duskbringer
by Nab