Still more Punch Brothers

Punch Brothers continue to pop up everywhere you look, offering more evidence of how large an audience they have found for their unique acoustic/bluegrass/pop/rock hybrid. Two more prestigious publications have taken a look at their output in the past few days.

Their brand new album, Antifogmatic, is reviewed in today’s edition of The Wall Street Journal, and Journal pop and rock critic Jim Fusilli (Fusilli Jim?), found much to like in the deluxe CD package.

“Antifogmatic” brims with color, wit, flash and tenderness, all conveyed with remarkable musicianship and high spirits. On the DVD in the album’s deluxe package, the group takes on a Fiona Apple tune and the allegro from Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. The record opens with “You Are,” which sounds very much like a rock song played by bluegrass musicians. The band members wrote it together, as they did all the new songs on the CD.

Read the full review here.

Paste magazine had them last week…

With a defined and defying sound, a more clearly asserted identity and a brand-new bassist in Arco Paulo [Paul Kowert], the Punch Brothers released their latest album, Antifogmatic, this past Tuesday (June 15). The title, Thile says, comes from an antiquated term for a bracing alcoholic beverage, usually rum or whiskey (he describes the album, fittingly, as “whiskey-soaked”), drank in the morning to clear one’s head and help one face the day. It’s a concept, he says, that is very easily applicable to music. “You hop on the Subway here in the city, more than half the people are on their iPods, listening to whatever gets them through their day,” Thile says. “Musical antifogmatics. In life, you need these things. Your friends are antifogmatics. Your family is an antifogmatic.”

On Antifogmatic, the guys sound more sure of themselves, more polished, more self-aware. The warm harmonies and crisp mandolin plucks and fiddle strains on tracks like “Alex” and “This is the Song (Good Luck)” ring with the resounding clarity the album’s title suggests.

The guys have also made a video track from the accompanying DVD available on Vimeo.

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About the Author

John Lawless

John had served as primary author and editor for The Bluegrass Blog from its launch in 2006 until being folded into Bluegrass Today in September of 2011. He continues in that capacity here, managing a strong team of columnists and correspondents.