By the time most bands have released a dozen or so albums, they are past their prime. They may still be releasing solid material, but the zenith is clearly in the rear view. Thankfully American Aquarium isn’t most bands. BJ Barham’s band is scarred, and road worn for sure. Lineups have changed and morphed over the years. However, this lineup has been together now for around seven years. Instead of heading to the downside of the hill, Barham and company seem to be hitting their stride. Their new album “Fear of Standing Still” certainly showcases the best of everything that is American Aquarium. This is the second time Barham has teamed up with Shooter Jennings as producer. (The previous time was 2020’s “Lamentations”.) Based on these two projects, it is a combination that contains a magic formula. The band brings back the riffs after their stripped down 2022 release “Chicamacomico”. The album was recorded at the Sunset Sound studio in Los Angeles.
It is always best to judge an album as a full body of work. Nevertheless, the way an album starts often sets the tone for the whole project. Few albums come out of the gate with a one, two, three punch better than “Fear of Standing Still”. Things start with a bang on “Crier”, a song that throws the notion that boys don’t cry on its head. In a Rock N’ Roll fury, Barham announces he is a crier and that is okay. Second to the post is what is sure to become a new fan favorite. “Messy as a Magnolia” is a rocker that will be a great sing along crowd pleaser. Next is “Cherokee Purples”, which is as Southern as a song can get. It is a song about Duke’s mayonnaise, heirloom tomatoes and memories. If you know you know. If you don’t, then come down South and we will show you. (There is no substitute for Duke’s by the way.) In addition to these three songs, “The Getting Home,” and the closing “Head Down, Feet Moving” are two other songs that are destined to be crowd pleasers.
The lynchpin of the album is “Southern Roots”. When I listened to the song the first time, I was crier, and proud of it. On this song Barham returns to a topic he faced head on in “Better South” from “Lamentations”. He addresses the complicated history of the South. The easy take (and frankly the usual lazy take) is to just bash the South and Southerners. However, Barham goes beyond this. He both acknowledges the darkness in Southern history and even its current landscape, while giving hope for a better future. “You can’t change the way you sound. You can only change the words that you choose.” Barham sings, “So I’m putting in the work. I’m digging in the dirt. I’m replanting my Southern roots.” Barham chooses to be part of the solution and provides positive direction and hope for the future of the place he is from. He clearly loves his home and chooses to move forward and make it better. We should all learn from voices like Barham and Patterson Hood from Drive-By Truckers when they address what Hood calls “The Duality of the Southern Thing”. The song was co-written with Katie Pruitt who also contributes vocals.
I have never been good at ranking albums or songs, for that matter. I won’t try to do it with “Fear of Standing Still”, but I feel confident it is close to the top of the very expansive American Aquarium catalogue.
About the author: Chip and his family live in Birmingham, AL. Roll Tide!