Our Brother the Native's Upcoming Sacred Psalms: Review

Our Brother The Native have always been known for their experimental tendencies, mixing an array of instruments with scattered percussion and rupturing bits of sound. It would be easy to class them with a group like Animal Collective, a group that shares a similar taste for beautiful chaos, but Our Brother the Native owe much more to Americana and traditional folk tones. The trio of multi-instrumentalists almost sound as if they were transported from the dust bowl era to the future, left in a modern studio, and forced to learn the ways of all the gadgets around them through trial and error.

Sacred Psalms, the band's third full-length continues these traditions. Over the course of the album you can easily visualize everything from road side shacks full of broken bottles, car skeletons, and rusted tools to caves full of Native artwork, and graveyards where the stones are cracked and weeds cover most of the inscriptions. This is experimental music with a decidedly American twist. Even the vocals play out like the sounds of animals on plains or ghosts in cornfields.

"Manes" sounds like Tom Waits mid breakdown. Haphazard percussion rattles a slinking track as voices moan and plead for some sort of release. "Sores" moves even further into desperation territory, using a simple acoustic guitar strum to ground eerie vocals and airy soundscapes. The song is minimal and emotive, like it was made by drought victims too tired to even shout about having no water. "Well Bred" is much more revelatory and bombastic. After starting off with faint vocals and what sounds like distant flute calls, a rattling, ceremonial racket of drums commences and some group vocals screech like eagle cries.

Sacred Psalms is a unique listening experience, one that deserves a listener's time and undivided attention. Each song is packed with nuance and tiny detail. The patterns, instruments, and movements are bold and intriguing, never following traditional paths, yet seeming completely logical and proper. This is the type of album that can take the listener on a journey through headphones and closed eyes. This is a barren America, a tired America, a beaten, dusty America that seeks to sing its songs despite being warn out and overlooked. The experimental nature of this band fits that ramshackle sense of displaced desperation, as unfamiliar sounds and combinations act as symbols of fear and confusion. Simply put, this is a complex album made with care and packed full of surprises and rewards.