Middle Brother

Middle Brother | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 1, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Partisan Records
• ASIN: B004FS2SHG
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,953 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Daydreaming

2. Blue Eyes

3. Thanks For Nothing

4. Middle Brother

5. Theater

6. Portland

7. Wilderness

8. Me Me Me

9. Someday

10. Blood and Guts

11. Mom and Dad

12. Million Dollar Bill

Editorial Reviews

Middle Brother is:
John McCauley (Deer Tick)
Matthew Vasquez (Delta Spirit)
Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes)

The lead singers of Deer Tick, Dawes, and Delta Spirit now come together to form the groundbreaking musical project, Middle Brother. McCauley, Goldsmith, Vasquez - three songwriters with an amazing sense of purpose, balancing themes of their own playful self-indulgence with humbler notes of heartbreak and hope. Alt-country folk mixed with soulful rock n roll. Middle Brother is the master collaborative event finally risen out of the roots of their genre; a moment we ve been waiting for.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - Delta Spirit Fans March 9, 2011

By Daniel G. Lebryk TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Studio recordings tend to be pristine with all the energy produced out of them. Not so with Middle Brother, the three members of this band are used to the long hard work on the road, playing in small clubs. This album captures the raw edges of these three remarkable musicians.

Delta Spirit, Matthew Vasquez; Deer Ticks, John McCauley; and Dawes, Taylor Goldsmith are Middle Brother. The three singer songwriters got together to make a really good album. They sound like a great bar band. It's easy to imagine them playing in some smoke filled, stale beer bar. The album has the flavor of 50's rock ballads, with folk country and blues thrown in for good measure. I'm a Delta Spirit fan, this album sounds like an extension of that group - the same musical tone, beat and twist of song lyric. I'd guess that if you like Delta Spirit, this album will be just wonderful.

Daydreaming - the morning after drinking too much, being woken by neighbors having morning sex, and probably dumped by his girlfriend, MacCaulley daydreams about how much he'd like to be back with his girlfriend.
Blue Eyes - One of my favorite tracks on this album. Has the most Delta Spirit flavor, the dirty bar feeling is all over this song. This song has their distinctive upright piano sound.
Thanks for Nothing - Goldsmith performs an almost classic folk ballad about the girl that has broken his heart and how he's so thankful for her help.
Middle Brother - classic rock and roll with a little rock-a-billy flavor, about the pain of being a middle brother in Nashville.
Theater - deliberate folk-rock with a hint of Neil Young, Vasquez sings about rough life can be.
Portland - A seemingly happy road song with a light acoustic guitar, hints of The Beatles, Here Comes the Sun. The song twists back on bad luck and moving back to Portland.
Wilderness - a single acoustic guitar folk ballad to the man he could have been, but never will be. His good friends all call him wilderness.
Me, Me, Me - electric guitar, upright piano, drums, and three part harmony; a little Jerry Lee Lewis flavor with raspy lead singing.
Someday - A hint of fifties Bill Haley and the Comets, but with a rougher edge. The song starts out down a nice path, but ends muddy and seem like the lead guitarist just wanted to show off. Not one of my favorite songs.
Blood and Guts - Slide guitar, electric guitar, and drums. This song marches along slowly at first, but then builds to the lead singer shouting and the musicians playing louder. The song closes on a slightly quieter note.
Mom and Dad - I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I don't know why.
Million Dollar Bill - A gold digger girl friend that's left the Middle Brothers, they each dream about how they will do something amazing so she's reminded of them. The first gets his face on the million-dollar bill so when her new rich boy friends do things for her, she will see him on the million-dollar bill. The other will be an astronaut so she can see him up in the sky every time she looks up. The last becomes a movie star so she can be reminded of how the new boy friends all learned to talk from his movies.

Middle Brother is a really good album. Although the stories all seem depressing, this is actually a pretty happy album. The singers sound happy with their lives even though they are thinking about sad things.

May 6, 2011 Update - This album just gets better and better with each listening. These three guys are remarkable artists with unique voices and style, but they work together so well. Daydreaming leaves me wondering, why is it wrong that he daydreams about a beautiful bartender - did he do something wrong (yeah he might be a stalker - looking for her in cafes)? But then haven't we all daydreamed about some beautiful waitress or bartender? I can't stop singing the choruses: It's too late to turn back here we go Portland oh on, my best friends call me wilderness, I have you to thank for that thanks for nothin', and I want to sing with blood and guts. This is a great album.

Delta Spirit Albums:
Ode to Sunshine
History From Below

July 25, 2011 Update - I love this album so much, I've just purchased it on Vinyl. The LP is head and shoulders better than the CD or MP3 downloads. I really wish I had purchased this as the limited edition version available on their website (long ago sold out). I've also now dabbled in Deer Tick and Dawes. Picked up LP's from both groups. It's fun to listen to those groups and pick out, oh yeah, that's the guy that did punch in the gut (Middle Brother); or he's the Portland guy... Highly recommend both those groups if you love Middle Brother as much as I do.
Deer Tick: The Black Dirt Sessions
Dawes: North Hills (Dig) - be warned, I think the vinyl edition is strictly 2 LP set cut at 45 RPM.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One Great New Album or Three Great New Bands March 7, 2011

By D. C. Casey

Format:MP3 Music|Amazon Verified Purchase

Three songwriters at the top of their game have teamed up here to produce an album of timeless tunes --- Great lyrical pieces wrapped around a solid American musical foundation of blues, country, folk, and rock. John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit are the voices of this album, from three bands traveling the same under-the-radar road of straight-forward, no indulgences music, which stands on its classic songwriting rather than on a gimmicky hip-for-the-moment sound. These songs will always work. McCauley lends his rough and tumble, life-beaten voice and words, Goldsmith brings heartfelt ballads and stirring harmonies, and Vasquez, who I was less familiar with, is an enormous vocal presence, with a voice that has tinges of rock n' roll John Lennon and songs that are easily the most catchy on the record.

The great thing about this album is that, if you've never heard of any of these three bands, you'll most likely come away from your first listen with three new bands to check out (I can vouch for the back catalogs of Dawes and Deer Tick, which are well worth your time. I'll be checking out Delta Spirit soon!). If you're already a fan of these bands, you won't be disappointed with this collection. Some of their finest work can be found here. It's especially great to hear them each take a verse on the closer, "Million Dollar Bill".

The live show (particularly Dawes) is outstanding and very much recommended as well!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD from an indie "supergroup" March 19, 2011

By J. Luiz

Format:Audio CD

I got this CD first because I'm a big Deer Tick fan, and all the songs with John McCauley on the lead vocal -- "Me, Me, Me," "Daydreaming," "Middle Brother" and "Mom and Dad," I took an immediate liking too. The songs with Taylor Goldsmith on lead -- like "Blood and Guts" and "Wilderness" -- are much slower tempo and more solemn than John's usually upbeat stuff, but they grew on me very quickly. ("Daydreaming" is the one slow-tempo McCauley song. When my wife and I first had that one at a Deer Tick concert in October of last year, it immediately blew both of us away -- it's a beautiful, beautiful song.) I did have a little more exposure to Delta Spirit than I did with Dawes before getting this, so the quality of Matt Vasquez tunes were a little less of suprise to me -- "Blue Eyes" is rocking fun, and "Theater" is more contemplative in the way the Goldsmith songs are, and both songs are excellent. The one song in which they all share lead vocals, a la the Highwaymen, "Million Dollar Bill" is a standout, with some very clever lyrics about how each of them could stay in the lives of the women who spurned them while she's off dating other, richer men. Their live show in Boston -- with Dawes and Deer Tick as the opening acts -- was a real treat. (I'm building up my Dawes & Delta Spirit collection now, as a result of this album.) They also do a cover of The Replacements song "Portland" on the album, and their version is terrific.