While a magnum opus would be compelling, The Carpenter’s slight inward turn and few great songs may be enough for now.
While the album does weigh heavily on its dark themes - possibly too much so at times - The Avett Brothers have never sounded better than they do on The Carpenter.
The Carpenter provides a return to rudimentary Avett songwriting, in that the most striking moments on the record are born from playful banjo-guitar banter and confessions revealed in 4/4 time.
Many of the band’s best moments have been quieter ones, and The Carpenter finds a nice balance between introspective and raucous.
Rubin may be a wizard in the studio, but his involvement has fostered a truly remarkable level of bloat in this once bare-boned, focused band.
The Avetts are clearly happiest when they’re miserable. Which is fine, if you’re in that kind of mood.
Maybe their newfound familiarity with the black cloak has pushed them to a more relaxed, straightforward sort of songwriting.
I had convinced myself early on I probably wasn't going to enjoy a whole lot of The Avett Brothers music. If I wasn't going to enjoy Emotionalism or I and Love and You it seemed unlikely that I would find an album that really spoke much to me. The Carpenter isn't a massive game changer, but it may be the closest I'll come to enjoying one of the groups records.
Most of this comes down to a small factor, and it's simply consistency. The Avett Brothers spend most of this album keeping a steady ... read more
album recommended by a friend I met at university. What I love about folk is the growing intensity of the songs and perhaps a scratchy and disruptive voice to enhance the emotion, this album has no such connotations and in fact is annoyingly basic
🟢🟡
Fav Track: February Seven
#7 | / | American Songwriter |
#22 | / | PopMatters |
#31 | / | Paste |
#41 | / | Rolling Stone |