The Brian Shapiro Band proves, if nothing else, that challenging rock music can bristle with the same sort of attitude we value in 4/4 rock songs about cars, women, and fast times. His songwriting for the band’s second album It’s Amazing doesn’t shirk away from complex emotions and portrays life’s struggles and realities with pointed economy that matches the music. Shapiro’s the primary songwriter, without question, but drummer Ben Kutner-Duff deserves a lot of credit for the idiosyncratic sound and development of these songs. He’s a key member of the band, as well, alongside bassist/guitarist Ed Moman and guitarist/bassist Rory Flynn.
URL: https://brianshapiroband.com/
It’s the same lineup responsible for the band’s debut All That We See. The Philadelphia-based four piece first came together during the pandemic, and they share an obvious musical and songwriting chemistry that shows no signs of fading. It is safe to say there isn’t another musical unit active today who would have produced the album’s first cut “Ambitigeddon”, The song isn’t cluttered with guitar pyrotechnics or thunderous drumming, though it sounds as if it is teetering on the brink from nearly the first.
The arrangement veers from brief flourishes before segueing into a hypnotic quasi-riff. The swirl of the music speeds up, slows down, all in time, but it nonetheless feels off-center for anyone used to conventional tempos. “So Much” expands on the unusual sound of the opener. It opens with a brief introduction before shifting into a sort of jazz on Quaaludes amble without a surprising amount of bounce pushing it along.
It’s Kutner-Duff’s drumming that elevates it. His understated playing on the track “Go To” has a bluesy pedigree. The slight drag his percussion brings to the song accentuates the dismissiveness in the lyric, Shapiro’s sneering vocal, and the relaxed theatricality of the song, a marked contrast with its subject matter. “Go To” will be a favorite for many. “More Memories” has stronger melodic virtues than any other song on the album thanks to Alex Posmontier’s piano playing, but the song proves Shapiro’s mettle writing vocal melodies, as well.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/its-amazing/1618572577
“New Newz” is an outlier. It gives Shapiro and his bandmates a chance to air their punk influences for the audience, but the rambunctious guitars don’t hook listeners in with a memorable melody. The lyrics are an interesting novelty listing today’s media platforms and outlets. Shapiro belts it out with the right amount of conviction while still keeping it well within the band’s stylistic wheelhouse.
Few listeners, particularly newcomers, will expect hearing vibraphone on a 2022 guitar, bass, and drum-driven release. It adds a lot, however, to the final track “Savor”. The song has a life-affirming message, but it doesn’t deliver it with rose-colored glasses on. Shapiro’s careful vocal is full of feeling but as theatrical as ever. It isn’t any slight, however, to say so. It’s Amazing is an album that follows its muse instead of current fashion and anyone willing to give the Brain Shapiro Band a chance will recognize that fast.
Troy Johnstone