Customer Reviews

Normal for Bridgwater

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I never thought that an Englishman could come up with an alt/country album stronger than any American band could even dream of. The songs on Peter Bruntnell's album are so heartfelt and comfortable it feels like your granpa is singing them to you. Beautiful melodies float above the most perfectly strummed progressions. Ive long been a fan of Wilco, Son Volt, The Jayhawks, and Uncle Tupelo, but it looks like i have a new favorite band. If your looking for quality, there is absolutley no need to look any further

peter bruntnell, backed by memebers of son volt and his own band kicks out a thick brew of pedal steel drenched rock.This cd has the type of sound I look for-no synth crap-just a group of musicians building momentum with each new cut.Good songs,good voice-great concoction!

This is an amazing collection of songs from one of the UK's finest yet most under rated songwriters. Anyone who thinks that Americana is the sole preserve of, well, Americans should check this gem out. It's a classic slice of country infused rock and deserves a place in every record collection in the land. Superb

For those of you who remember and appreciate Ian Matthews' mid-Seventies recordings, particularly "Valley Hi", Peter Bruntnell is another Englishman who delves deeply into American country and folk music. "Handful of Stars", with its shimmering steel guitar, kicks off the disc in grand style, but there isn't a bad track in the bunch. This is for the most part quiet, subtle music with influences ranging from Matthews to Nick Drake to Jimmy Webb (the delightfully loony "By the Time My Head Gets to Phoenix" is a standout), and Bruntnell's low-keyed vocals are ingratiating. Outstanding.

I don't have much else to add to the other reviews, but it boils down to this- if you loved Son Volt "Trace" and Wilco's "A.M." you will want this disc.

I purchased "Normal for Bridgewater" after seeing Bruntnell open up for Jay Farrar on his latest solo tour. And I must say that I'd be hard pressed to identify Bruntnell's British origins on the basis of his music. He has the "Americana" sound down pat, though his lyrics tend to be a bit out there at times, like on the goofy but engaging songs "By the Time My Head Gets to Phoenix" and "Jurassic Parking Lot." Bruntnell is a very good songwriter whose writing and voice at times brings to mind Farrar's old songwriting partner, Jeff Tweedy (of Wilco). Other top notch songs on this disc include "Handfull of Stars," "You Won't Find Me," "N.F.B." and "Played Out." Only a few lesser songs later in the disc keep it from being a true classic. Nevertheless, it is a keeper.

I have lived with this album for years and its pleasures continue to grow with the passage of time .Recorded in Boston but named after a small town in the English West Country ,and in particular what Bruntnell describes as the "small town malaise "and the "cider-fuelled fall-out that sometimes descends on the town " these exceptional songs are light of touch but dark in subject matter and lyrical nuance .The theme seems to be that of the journey -trying to defy the words of Thomas Wolfe and to " go home again "
At times the journey is by plane as in the inspired "By the Time My Head Gets To Phoenix" ,at times the journey is accompished in a gentle alcoholic haze ,as in the quietly lovely opening track " Handful of Stars ".The voice throughout is ragged and slighly weary ,the mood poignant and suffused with melancholy .Standout track for me is "Cosmea"with its sawing fiddle ,banjo and gentle gospel feel .Dont forget to try "Played Out " the best Jayhawks track not by the Jayhawks ,and the solid country groove of "Lay Down This Curse "or the back porch mellowness of "Outlaw"
Son Volt alumni Eric Heywood and Dave Boquist add solid support on pedal stell and fiddle respectively.
This a fine piece of Americana from the UK and a match for better known names in the genre

Peter Bruntnell can add some tranquil pleasures to a day with his nice melodies and his pleasing, slightly scratchy tenor.

I bought this CD upon the recommendation of the other reviews for this
product-almost all five stars. I was truly anticipating a great CD having been a fan of "americana" since Gram Parsons, through Townes Van Zandt,to
Emmy Lou and Lucinda, all the way up to people like Bonnie Prince Billy, M. Ward, Greg Brown and so on, but after listening to it I could not believe how pedestrian it is. Not that there is anything "bad" about this music but like Ryan Adams' music there is nothing here I haven't heard done better years ago. I would describe this music as Poco and/or Eagles inspired music(depending on the song) with a little Keith Richards guitar thrown in here and there. There are only two things lacking in this CD-Innovation and Inspiration. If this is "Normal For Bridgewater" I don't expect I will be headed there to listen to music anytime soon!

I haven't heard a CD in a while that starts off with as strong a 1-2 punch as Handful of Stars and You Won't Find Me, but I found a disappointingly precipitous drop after that, with some intermittent high points like By the Time My Head Gets to Phoenix, Cosmea, and Lay Down this Curse. The clean and medium uptempo country-pop arrangements on many of the tunes belie some pretty downer events in the lyrics (by my count at least three are about death and/or suicide). Most of the other cuts are spare, ballad arrangements. Eventually the sameness of those two musical approaches gets to be a problem. Also, subtract points for no enclosed lyrics, inexcusable these days. The bass player is credited as Peter Noone. This can't possibly be the old Herman's Hermit, can it? I'll play this from time-to-time, put three or four cuts on my own CD mixes, but too much of it is read-the-newspaper-by background music.