It’s very rare anymore for the music world to see a collaboration so strange it makes us scratch our heads, and even more rare when that works out; however, when that involves someone like Mike Patton, you can almost guarantee it’s going to work.
AVTT/PTTN (Thirty Tigers, Ramseur Records, Ipecac Recordings), a collaboration between Mike Patton (Faith No More, Tomahawk, Mr. Bungle) and The Avett Brothers—the Americana folk-rockers who dominated the late 2000s/early 2010s—is nearing its release for tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 14 and it’s a well-worked exploration of sound.
Patton croons in a bassy southern twang in harmony with the Brothers in a very intriguing way. He adds a new layer to an old sound and freshens things up, and it works surprisingly well.
The album kicks off with “Dark Night Of My Soul,” coming in with gentle finger picking and rolls into shared vocals between Patton and Avett, both back and forth and layered in harmony, and grows into something spacious and beautiful as we near the track’s end.
“To Be Known” starts with slow tickled keys, smoked out simplistic drumming, and sees the Brothers introducing the track first and foremost, before lending duties to Patton.
Two tracks in and we are shown already how such a strange collaboration can make such sonic sense. Patton fits well against the instrumentation and doesn’t disturb the beautiful harmony and gentle sound The Avett Brothers have always leaned against.
Track three, “Heavens Breath,” is easily the strangest song on the album. Not so much for the realm of Mike Patton, but certainly for The Avett Brothers. With steady, grainy power chords and gritty delivery from Patton, the track borders on post-punk, but still feels sensible all while managing to keep things fresh. The searing hot and almost off-kilter guitar soloing, paired with frantic harmonies on the hook, ensures that the track stands out even more so.
Switching out of the punk-esque energy of “Heavens Breath” and sliding into “Too Awesome,” sees us receiving a folk laden love song delivered with the energy of a gentle 80’s ballad. Crooning from both Patton and the Brothers, shared and layered, helps make this track a top notch experience.
“Disappearing” feels the most like your classic The Avett Brothers’ track, but with Patton lending vocals in an old school, bass heavy country twang. It’s hard not to love the way that Mike and the Brothers bounce around vocal duties from track to track. It keeps this release feeling like a full form collaboration and much less like an album of “featuring Mike Patton” songs. It feels like he quietly slid in as the forgotten brother, and it just worked.
The leading single from this album, “Eternal Love,” is spacey and beautiful; seeing some of the best vocals on the entire release. If this track didn’t tug at your ears and pull you in, you may not dig the rest, but if it DID, then you are in for quite a treat.
“The Ox Driver’s Song” admittedly doesn’t top any lists for me. While I can acknowledge it’s an interesting breakaway from the majority of the album, it feels as if it tries too hard to be an old railroad song. It comes off as a little awkward and a tad bit cringey, but you can tell the band is enjoying themselves, and I believe that counts for something.
Leaving behind the Ox Driver, we gently glide into the most atmospheric and ambient track on this entire LP. Laced with synth and slow guitar is track eight: “The Things I Do.” Even though this feels like the most simplistic track we’re served, it packs and incredibly emotional punch and is surrounded by a cinematic air.
“Received” is the last track and it serves as a warm goodbye, wrapping us up in loving arms and opening up the exit door with a soft smile. It’s a sensible way to wrap up the LP, I can’t quite explain how, but it feels like the end credits after a well-planned and unpredictable film—one that brought you in with its massive cast but made you stick around for the plot.
Mike Patton managed to come into this project less like a feature and more like a hidden Brother—one that mom and dad had locked up in the basement and finally let out to see the Sun.
I can’t say if it’s the help of something fresh, or if The Avett Brothers are honing it all back in, but this feels like their greatest release in nearly a decade. AVTT/PTTN is refreshing, unique and fairly cinematic its sonic explorations.
Rating
4.1/5
Favorite Tracks
“Dark Night Of My Soul”
“Received”
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https://30tgrs.ffm.to/avtt-pttn
Tracklist
- Dark Night of My Soul
- To Be Known
- Heaven’s Breath
- Too Awesome
- Disappearing
- Eternal Love
- The Ox Driver's Song
- The Things I Do
- Received
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