In looking through the notes, it seems BROWER is part solo project (of Nat Brower) and part collaborative effort. I’m not sure anyone would really call this punk—I’m not suggesting that Nat or anyone else suggested they were, just stating that for fact. I’d say part power pop, part glam, part rock, part pop, and part bubblegum. Which of those is most prominent depends on the song. Very jangly and catchy, this is easy to like. Vocals remind me of GOOD LOOKING SON at times.
As we hopefully near the end of the COVID pandemic, what we are left with is a deluge of bedroom four-track albums or bathroom laptop solo epiphanies. However, this album will stand as the last live concert album to be recorded before the March 2020 shutdown. I left the mystery alone whether the live recording is in the vein of the BLACK LIPS Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo album recorded “live” in Tijuana, or more authentically, THIN LIZZY’s Live and Dangerous, which the art on this album cover reverently replicates. Regardless, it’s a fun raucous ride throughout. Sporting sounds from glam, English disco, and funk punk, the influences range from MUD and STATUS QUO to early KISS and late PHARMACY. The supporting band includes Josephine Network on guitar and Hershguy on drums. The songs pull from a range in BROWER’s career, so it’s a great intro if you haven’t heard this treasure before.
Holy Glam, Batman! I never heard of this guy BROWER from Virginia, but he’s definitely heard of T. REX and SWEET. Can’t think of much shit that fits this sound outside the ’70s…bedroom studio glam proto pub rock, maybe MICKEY JUPP’s LEGEND, but just the boogie rockers. Certainly not the first to mine this sound as of late, but the tunes speak for themselves, and this is an unexpected killer start to finish, like TANK for the 21st century.
