Impossible to pin down, The Punch Brothers continue to cut asunder
our notions of bluegrass, classical, jazz and acoustic music, with their
intricate, yet wonderfully listenable songs. These five lively players,
on mandolin, violin, guitar, banjo and bass, jam like crazy with their
bluegrass backgrounds, but stretch way past the usual band dynamics and
structures. Songs veer into asides, as the troupe becomes quickly
becomes a chamber ensemble or a stringband jazz group, each move
seamless and beautiful.
The lyrics sound as
swell as the music, and are just as hard to pin down. The songs feature
lines that are inscrutable but wonderful to follow, such as "As I lie
like the colours of the rainbow," and "Momma cuts through the morning
like a man-of-war." Lead singer/songwriter and pretty much the world's
greatest mandolin player, Chris Thiele, says the songs are about
committed relationships during these turbulent times, but you'll go
snaky trying to figure out how that fits in. Better just to enjoy
hearing him sing "Don't let him get to you with his 'Hey batter batter
swing,'" words as graceful as the music.
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