What
Are We Gonna Do Now?
Self-released
By Scott Roberts
You have to admire the tenacity of
Band. For nearly 10 years, this hard-working quintet has been one of the only
purveyors of traditional (well, mostly traditional) bluegrass music in a town
known more for its art- and dance-rock, and on their fourth full-length CD, What Are We Gonna Do Now?, the band
answers the album’s titular query by continuing to do what they’ve been doing throughout
the past decade — keep playing enjoyable, acoustically-rich music that has a
sense of humor and a subtle depth with no regard to trends or fickle audiences.
“I’m a walking disaster/I’m an accident to stop waiting to happen,”
confesses mandolinist/vocalist Michael Paynter in the opening line of the
catchy opening song “Walking Disaster,” and it is a perfect example of the band’s
sly sense of humor. Joining Paynter in the humor department is fiddler/singer
Andrew Heaton (one of the band’s three songwriters along with guitarist Josh
Erwin) who contributes the ready-made audience sing-along “What Is A Packway
Handle?” a question that seems to elude Heaton himself. But with its rousing
call and response refrain (“What—WHAT?—is a packway handle?”), listener and
author have so much fun that they both realize the answer isn’t really too
important. This song also displays a bit of the band’s non-bluegrass influences
with Heaton recalling Lou Reed in his sing-talk vocal approach. There might
also be a bit of Velvet Underground’s influence (specifically the song “Oh, Sweet Nuthin’”)
on the plaintive “Outskirts,” and the opening chords of “Off My Knees” borrow
heavily from The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” before veering into
something more uniquely Packway’s.
While the band doesn’t have one particular hotshot instrumentalist, all
five members, including banjoist Tom Baker and bassist Zach McCoy, are above
average players who have ample opportunity to shine, especially on the jaunty instrumental
(another bluegrass tradition) “Horse Vs. Technology,” an Erwin composition that
is the clear-cut winner for “Best Title” and possibly the standout track on
this well-produced effort. After one listen to What Are We Gonna Do Now?, the answer is in the music.
