A few years ago, at Folk Alliance, I was in a room waiting for a band I wanted to hear when I saw a band I realized I needed to hear, Brooklyn’s Damn Tall Buildings. They’re a bluegrass trio that clearly had honed a lot of their act out on a sidewalk where you have to attract your audience, not just play to the one sitting in front of you. They’re just releasing their fourth album, The Universe Is Hungry, and it’s guided by years out on the road, a growing frustration with modern technology, and a deep feeling that humanity’s shared experiences are what’s really going to save us.
The distinctive sound of DTB is driven largely by their vocal harmonies; baritone, tenor, and alto coming from guitarist Max Capistran, fiddler Avery Ballotta, and bassist Sasha Dubyk. The Simulator is an imaginative tale of trying to convince someone life is just a dream and when you wake up everything will be wonderful, or as the trio sings, “are you ready for the real deal, honey?” Thick Smoke is a little more of the same in a number about looking for peace in the universe…or just the joy of smoking a number down by the stream. No Weed In Paris goes the other direction. Without the availability of a favorite substance it turns out you can get a similar high from “a walk in the evening as the sun is slowly setting.” The title track features some funky instrumentals that I’ll pin to someone in the group loving John Hartford. It’s about the constant reinvention that’s needed to do well in the world.
Some of the most attention grabbing songs are when Dubyk takes lead on the vocals. Her range is the perfect foil for the other two’s harmonies, particularly Capistran’s deep baritone. Can’t Slow Down tackles the notion that who you’ve become is driving who you are more than you want. It’s more folk than bluegrass and has a sweet electric guitar part. One of three covers on the album (the others being the instrumental Legese Abdi and the traditional Big Ball In Brooklyn) is an outstanding rendition of Blue Bayou. I’m not going to say it will make you forget Linda Rondstadt’s version, but that’s a real possibility. It has more of a local’s feel to the story with a lone fiddle, and later accordion, giving Cajun substance to the idea of longing for your home in the bayou.
With the core of the instruments being just guitar, fiddle, and bass, the group’s bluegrass sound leans to old-timey when they layer in their vocals. Their latest album, The Universe Is Hungry, builds on that strength and it’s a great introduction to Damn Tall Buildings if you’re not already a fan. As good as the record is, though, they’re even better live.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.