Album Review: The Felice Brothers – Undress (Yep Roc)

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If nothing else, the Trump administration has inspired an awful lot of music lately.

The Felice Brothers’ new album finds the Catskill-based band with politics on their mind and a new line-up to help get the message across.

Gone are fiddle player Greg Farley and bassist Joss “Christmas Clapton” Rawson, both of whom left last year. Replacing them is new guy Jesske Hume on the bass. Rounding out the band is drummer Will Lawrence along with the two remaining Felice brothers, James Felice on accordion, organ and piano and Ian Felice who handles the lead vocals and guitar duties. This new line-up leaves them sounding leaner and more like a straight-ahead rock band, although the Americana element is still very present.

This new record was recorded mostly live-to-tape in upstate New York, giving the record a more immediate, punchy sound.

Undress begins with the title track as Ian Felice sings, “Undress, America, undress “ over a tinkling piano, he then urges Republicans and Democrats to “smell the chrysanthemums as the band kicks in, enhanced by a horn section and a danceable beat.

“Everyone’s nude on Family Feud”, warbles Ian.

It’s not exactly “But even the president of the Unite States sometimes must have to stand naked”, but there is a Dylanesque vibe to the album, but sounding more like looser moments  on Blonde On Blonde rather than the earlier “folk” albums.

Holy Weight Champ is more reflective…”Why should I have some, when so many have none”…Felice ponders over his brother’s solemn organ.

The mood of the record swings between whimsical and rocking(Special Announcement, Salvation Army Girl) and dark and brooding (The Kid, Poor Blind Birds).

TV Mama, with its slinky bass line and pedal steel, sound very much like another act that spent some time in upstate New York…The Band.

And like the music Dylan and The Band made together in Woodstock, The Felice Brothers manage to take the political temperature of the country around them without sounding ponderous. As a matter of fact there is plenty of humour, albeit some of it dark, mixed in among the album’s twelve songs.

On final song, Socrates, Ian Felice sings, “They accused me of writing songs, I was sentenced to death, 24 hours to live” while eventually toasting, “health to the tyrant, health to the modern state”. It was thousands of years ago since the state forced Socrates to drink that hemlock. Maybe things haven’t changed that much since then.

Marty Duda

 

Marty Duda
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