Twangville readers picked ‘I and Love and You’ by The Avett Brothers as their favorite release for week of September 29, 2009.
After five full-length albums and two EPs on Ramseur Records the Avett Brothers have decided to go BIG with their latest release ‘I and Love and You’. What do you do when you want to go big? You team up with Rick Rubin and you let Sony take care of the rest. The benefits speak for themselves but a key advantage for the Avett Brothers is that all nuances of their unique style of folk, bluegrass, rock and pop get captured to the utmost degree. For a band that’s made a name for themselves from their raucous live performances and word of mouth publicity is this a different direction for the band? Or, is it the natural progression of a group finally getting the notice they deserve? I lobby for the latter. After all, in 2007 they were named the AMA New/Emerging Artist Of The Year and in Spring of 2009 you could have seen them touring with the Dave Matthews Band. That’s big.
Fortunately, the music stays true and the high quality production serves as a benefit. You’ll notice a ‘coming of age’ theme with many of the lyrics — perhaps an obvious direction given their big label debut. For me, the only downside of the album is that it is super slow to get going. The title track and first song of the album is a defining track but I think it’s a better postlude than prelude. It’s not until “Kick Drum Heart” (Track 7) that it really kicks into gear. Thankfully, “Slight Figure of Speech” and “It Goes On and On” end the album on a high note. If ‘coming of age’ is a sign of settling down I hope The Avett Brothers never get old. And while ‘I and Love and You’ serves as a pivotal recording of an emergent band and California has temporarily replace North Carolina, I’ll still hold hope for more of the rambunctious, barn-busting rock that drew me to them in the first place. [★★★★/4.1 — Tom Osborne]
RIYL: Old Crow Medicine Show, Langhorne Slim, Chatham County Line, The Felice Brothers, The Hackensaw Boys
About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.