Elder Brother Heavy Head Review

            Hailing from warm, sunny, and did I mention warm? California (I’m not jealous over here in the frozen Midwest US, I swear), indie-rock group Elder Brother is making their record debut in the near future. The band, featuring Kevin Geyer of The Story So Far, and Dan Rose of Daybreaker, plans on releasing their album Heavy Head on March 11^th , and after a few listens, I can tell that it’s worth the wait.

            The album starts off great with Pennsylvania, a mid-tempo tune that I have since promised myself will be on every road trip playlist I make. I don’t know why, but somewhere between the straightforward drums, the way the singer’s voice locks right in to the rest of the music, and the general tone of the song, it just makes want to keep my head up and move forward.

            The album goes on in the same manner, until Any Sort of Plan, where the band takes a moment to show what they can do with just two guitars and a singer. Believe me when I say they can do quite a bit. Again, this is totally going to be a driving song for me. Heck, I might even try to learn the words. For those of you just tuning in, I’m terrible at learning words to songs, so that means a lot for me.

            The album slowly grooves back into full band territory with Lightning Bug, and stays there for a brief moment, before swinging into acoustic track Who’s Gonna Carry You Home.        The next track that stands out for me is In My Bones. It has almost everything that I like in a song: deceptively simple drums, a groovy bassline that isn’t afraid to hit some high notes, guitars that go low when they need to and sprinkle light patterns over the rhythm section when they can, and expressive vocals. In my opinion, it’s also the song on the album that hits the hardest, so that gives it another gold star for me.

            Finishing up the album is the surprisingly-upbeat third acoustic track, Sunday Mornings. This is a sing-along if I’ve ever heard one, and it’s a good finish to what I believe is an all-around good album.

            Despite my weather-related envy towards the band, I think that Elder Brother’s Heavy Head is a really great piece of music. I don’t think everyone will like it, and that’s okay. However, I think the people that do like it will like it a lot, and isn’t that kind of the point? I’m going to suggest that y’all keep March 11^th marked on your calendars (or as a memo in your phone, or something), because this album is definitely worth the time it takes to give it a listen.