Brothers and Sisters'- Fortunately: CD Review

Brothers and Sisters have the acoustic strum, twangy lead guitars, male/female harmonies, campfire intimacy and full-throttle folk-rock drive. They can be compared to The Eagles, Tom Petty, Neil Young or The Band. And while all of those attributes cannot be seen as detractors, sometimes they don't work for this 6-piece. They've got all of the pieces: traditional tones, songwriting knowledge that goes beyond the obvious, quality recordings, and even some personality, but they don't always manage to put them together the right way. Sometimes instead of a charming and/or moving folk song with hints of country you get a song that sounds like it was made solely with the intention of getting to the airwaves.

Opener "Mason City" is like a smile brightened so much by whiting toothpaste that instead of being attractive is merely blinding. The song is "Take it Easy" era Eagles down to a tee. A warm lap-steel calls out over an acoustic-rhythm and speedy drum beat, while an inviting melody seeks to relax the listener. The problem is the song sounds like the product of a studio. All albums are of course the product of a studio, but the albums that sound best are the ones that have a real feeling to them, ones with heart, or a sense that the band all crammed into a little room and simply started rocking. In the case of "Mason City" it sounds like a computer took traditional folk and country instrumentation and cleaned it up to the point that it sounds like Carrie Underwood's backing band.

Luckily the entire album does not rely on production sheen as can be heard on the somber "Make a Man's Body Hurt." This slow-moving ballad seems to rest somewhere between Neil Young and Bonnie "Prince" Billy thanks to a dark take of drinking, an old piano ache, and some weepy lap-steel. It is songs like this that show Brothers and Sisters are really capable of doing. There is no pretension, no layers of top-notch instruments and studio wizardry, just a well-crafted tune full of heart and soul.

The rest of the album has its fare share of pop-chart grandstanding ("Can't Hold me Back," "California") and simply excellent songwriting ("The Wind," "Lonely Man"). The second half even boosts a handful of tunes like "That's How it Goes" and "Wash Away" that dabble in psych-rock territory, but still come off too squeaky clean.

I don't know if Brothers and Sisters are simply afraid to get dirty, but when they add a little grit and a little emotion instead of a fake pop facade, they are all the better for it.