Say Brother – All I Got Is Time [Album Review]

I’ve come off of my sabbatical because there’s this band out there that’s got me emitting a natural musky smell. As Shania Twain said, “Man, I feel like a wo-As Sheryl Crow said, “Are you strong enough to be my man?” Yes, yes I am.

That band is Columbia, South Carolina’s Say Brother and their debut album, All I Got Is Time, is a full tilt, foot-stomping, barn-storming, countrified bluesy rocker. If you’re in a coffee shop right now savoring the complex notes of your French drip in a cardigan while listening to Of Monsters and Men, this isn’t for you. This is music with guitars and banjos and drums played so hard your knuckles bleed. It’s music with dirt on its jeans. It’s garage rock transported to the back porch. It’s music a man can be proud of.

I sent a text informing Woody about Say Brother over the weekend and he was immediately smitten. I asked him if he had seen the above picture…he said he studied it for 15 minutes (so did I). Here are some reasons why I love this band.

1.) Their song titles are things like “Imma Leave My Home”, “Might Deep Depression”, and “Don’t Take No Woman”.
2.) You can actually hear a lead guitar all the way throughout every song – they don’t try to polish it down. There are some nasty licks and even guitar solos (!) in almost every song. Imagine that.
3.) The fire and snarl of lead singer Tripp LaFrance’s voice
4.) The fact that they have someone in the band named “Tripp LaFrance”
5.) You have to respect their appetite for heaters and Busch Light cans
6.) They don’t have an animal in their band name
7.) One word – authenticity