Tom Brosseau
Grass Punks
Crossbill 025

www.crossbillrecords.com
 

This brief 28-minute nine-track album is essentially a collaboration between a singer-songwriter, Brosseau, and a producer, Sean Watkins, who engineered and mixed the entire recording at his home studio. Watkins provides all the instrumental backing beyond Brosseau’s acoustic guitar, using guitars, bass, mandolins and synth pads as well as adding vocal harmonies. Brosseau is a North Dakota native who has lived in Los Angeles since 2001. This, his seventh release, is my introduction to his music. Eight of the nine pieces are songs with a single instrumental included. The performances are lovely, the arrangements quite effective. I wish there was a lyric sheet included. The songs demand that kind of attention: They are gentle things, and even, though they are very different stylistically, they remind me of the roiling placidity in Nick Drake’s work.

In the opener “Cradle Your Device” a lover seems more interested in her cyber connections than her lover in real life. “Stuck on the Roof Again” finds the singer stranded in the cold when the wind blows his ladder away. “Tami” is recollection of his first kiss. “Today Is a Bright New Day” finds the singer at a place that was a favored haunt with a favorite ex and it feels haunted, rueful. “Love High John Conqueror Root” and “We Are Meant to Be Together” are bitter, angry aftermath songs.

The real heart and centerpiece of the release is “I Love to Play Guitar.” It’s essentially a credo.

Grass Punks is an album of gentle songs with a lot of turmoil in many of them, subject-wise. With just Brosseau and Watkins providing the music, it has a nice stripped down feel that really draws you in. It’s beautifully played and recorded … especially for a home recording. I am delighted to have discovered Tom and his music.

— Michael Tearson