Middle Brother (album)

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Middle Brother
Middle Brother (album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedMarch 1, 2011 (2011-03-01)
Studio Playground Sound, Nashville
Genre Folk rock, roots rock
Length48:57
Label Partisan Records
Producer Adam Landry [1]

Middle Brother is the eponymous debut album by the folk-rock band Middle Brother, released on March 1, 2011 on Partisan Records. The band members, all of whom had been in their own bands before forming Middle Brother, described the band's debut album as a "one-off" that they didn't want to take precedence over their original projects. [2]

Contents

Background and recording

The album's songs, along with 10 others that were not included on it, were recorded at Adam Landry's home studio Playground Sound in Nashville, Tennessee [1] over a week-long period. The album also contains songs from each of Middle Brother's members' other bands that never made it onto their previous groups' albums. [3] In March 2010, Middle Brother, then known as "MG&V", played their first show at SXSW, where they said they would release an album soon, depending on their bands' tour schedules. [4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic (76%) [5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [7]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Robert Christgau (A-) [9]
Spin (6/10) [10]
The A.V. Club (B+) [11]
The Austin Chronicle Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]

The album received mainly positive reviews from critics; for instance, Doug Freeman praised the way that "McCauley's caustic growl gets softened by the smoother tenors of Goldsmith and Vasquez." [12] Ken Tucker also reviewed the album favorably in an article written for NPR, in which he compared Middle Brother to Crosby, Stills and Nash – the collaboration between David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash that was originally conceived as a one-time collaboration. Tucker stated that the similarities lie in how each member helps the other achieve a musical effect the other wants. [13]

Track listing

  1. "Daydreaming" (McCauley)
  2. "Blue Eyes" (Vasquez)
  3. "Thanks For Nothing" (Goldsmith)
  4. "Middle Brother" (McCauley, Goldsmith, Jonny Corndawg)
  5. "Theater" (Vasquez)
  6. "Portland" (Replacements cover)
  7. "Wilderness" (Goldsmith)
  8. "Me Me Me" (McCauley)
  9. "Someday" (Vasquez)
  10. "Blood and Guts" (Goldsmith)
  11. "Mom and Dad" (McCauley)
  12. "Million Dollar Bill" (Goldsmith)

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 "40 Watt » FREE Deer Tick Show – T. Hardy Morris & The Hardknocks – Tickets – 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA – September 17th, 2014". www.40watt.com. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015.
  2. Fusilli, Jim (March 8, 2011). "Surviving the Supergroup". Wall Street Journal . Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  3. Maloney, Devon (March 8, 2011). "Middle Brother Says It's Less 'Supergroup,' More 'Exotic Band'". Billboard . Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Stone, Jon (March 6, 2011). "Middle Brother: Middle Brother". American Songwriter. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  5. Middle Brother, Metacritic
  6. Ruhlmann, William. "Middle Brother". AllMusic. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  7. Hermes, Will (March 1, 2011). "Middle Brother Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  8. Tebo, Daniel (March 1, 2011). "Middle Brother: Middle Brother". PopMatters. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  9. CG: Middle Brother
  10. Young, Jon (March 1, 2011). "Middle Brother, 'Middle Brother' (Partisan)". Spin. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  11. Hyden, Steven (March 8, 2011). "Middle Brother Review". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  12. 1 2 Freeman, Doug (March 18, 2011). "Middle Brother". Austin Chronicle . Retrieved June 15, 2014.
  13. Tucker, Ken (March 28, 2011). "'Middle Brother': Hand-Clapping Foot-Stompers". NPR. Retrieved June 27, 2014.