Brother Paul Brown – the Nashville, Tennessee-based, Grammy-winning keyboard/synth player of The Waterboys since 2013 – is also a member of the true Blues band Brothers Brown, and they have unleashed a new album.
Founded in 2014, at Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California, United States, Brothers Brown consists of the LA-based Paul Brown (guitar, vocals), Brother Paul Brown (keyboards), David M. Santos (bass, rhythm guitar, vocals), and Pete Young (drums, percussion, rhythm guitar, vocals). In 2016, they released their debut album, Dusty Road; a blend of Soul, Blues, Alternative Country, Jazz, and Rock ‘n’ Roll. Now, the follow up has been unleashed.
Released on January 12, 2024, via Woodward Avenue Records, Nowhere Left To Go is Brothers Brown’s overall second album. Consisting of thirteen tracks, it opens with the slow, unassuming, starry-eyed “Wrong Side of Town,” and then accelerates the mood immediately with the slightly syncopated “Junior’s Back,” which exudes faint echoes of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The ensuing “Runnin’ Blues” then sweeps the blue-eyed listener off her feet with its smooth riffs and subtle punches; it will remind the initiated of The Waterboys’ “Nearest Thing to Hip,” from the legendary band’s first foray into the green, grassy genre, 2015’s Modern Blues.
Brothers Brown then treats listeners to the smoothly sliding Santana-inspired title-track, which featured the iconic blues-master Bobby Rush; only to change direction to the sun-dried, Reggae-tinged “My Baby.” The gang then goes slower as they lullaby the listener to the warm-breezed countryside with “High Up on the Mountain,” and then hits the funky motor runnin’ with “Chitlin’ Pickin’.” From here, a pair of tunes – one subdued, the other playful – fit for a quiet-corner blues bar come next with “Brand New Day” and “Whatcha Gonna Do.”
Then, after the feel-good but lyrically pensive midtempo “Give Me One Reason,” Brothers Brown then steps onto the accelerator with the steely, imposing “Snakehole Road.” Which leads to them delivering the same edgy and dark sentiments with the bit angular “Black and Blue,” cutting its groove into the loudspeakers and, finally, wraps up the album perfectly with a fifteen-minute Progressive Blues/Soul instrumental, sealing the opus with a proud and confident statement.
In the current fast-paced music landscape of the mainstream, Brothers Brown’s Nowhere Left To Go is definitely a breath of revitalizing countryside breeze. Put down one’s Alternative Rock yoke in the meantime and play something bluesy, soulful, and worthwhile. That is why Cryptic Rock gives Brothers Brown’s sophomore offering 4 out of 5 stars.
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