Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch - Andrew Graham's Good Word

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4...according to our Brian on Thu 27 May, 2010.

This guy writes a particularly slanted 'n' enchanted variety of wistful, smoky folk-rock, blues balladeering & wired lo-fi pop over the course of this strange waxing. So one minute i'm thinkin' "that sounds like Bob Dylan chillin' over a vat of camomile tea & a couple of rounds of Albert Hoffman's magic blotters with Steve Malkmus" on the opening track. Chuck in a particularly wonky version of rockabilly ragtime, A ragged slice of tragi-comic blues 'n' piano hollering then flip over......'A Little Bit on the Way In' sounds a bit Krautfolk-y with a grooving 70's piano, a Velvets-y violin & a well steady metronomic drumbeat. Reminds me a little of Chris Leo's stuff, especially with the beat poetry of the lyrics recalling the brilliant Vague Angels. More harmonica please too. I'd probably buy this album just for this song - it rules! There's some muffled 70s piano kookiness, of a smacked-out Ben Folds Five variety, before it finishes on another charming Dylan-esque skank. But this ain't no lame pastiche - it sounds completely individual, off-its-tits and out-of-time does this album, without reverting to out & out weirdness or being remotely contrived.

Andrew Graham & Swarming Branch will release their first LP, Andrew Graham’s Good Word, on the Mexican Summer label this March. The album will be Graham’s first release since the dissolution of RTFO Bandwagon, the elegantly primitive Columbus, OH folk band that most recently released Dums Will Survive (March 2009) on Texas’ Dull Knife Records.

While RTFO Bandwagon heavily reiterated the elements already present in Graham’s guitar frameworks with the bass, drums, and even the vocal melodies, Swarming Branch takes a more delicate approach. Throughout Good Word, each instrument plays only one note at a time, freeing up space in the mix and ensuring that every note is intentional.

To realize this detailed new sound, Graham brought in drummer Ryan Jewell (Terribly Empty Pockets, Pink Reason, Psychedelic Horseshit) and piano wizard Dane Terry. A number of other musicians come and go over the course of the record, including bassist Chris Burney (the Sun) and experimental composer Larry Marotta on slide guitar.

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