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Reviews of Thirty Nothing
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"This quartet from Boston has created a monster of an album. A wall of noise and energy,
the sounds are utterly mesmerizing..." (Read Full Review)
Shawn M. Haney / Northeast Performer
"After listening to a few of The Brown Book's songs, each one better than the song before,
the adjectives just started spewing out of me: hard! loud! dirty! relentless! angry!
sludgy! tight!" (Read Full Review)
Oh My Rockness
"Its not just the ideas that are impressive, it’s the sheer intensity of their application
that mark out The Brown Book for me - they know exactly when to play it cool, when to
totally go for it, and when to grind to sudden halts to keep you on your toes.."(Read Full Review)
David Stockwell / Diskant
"So often we listen to music for the expected pay off; the crescendo of post rock, the breakdown
in heavy metal and hardcore, every song seems to be building to some point in which the
listener feels validated. The Brown Book transcends these cliches by keeping you pinned to the
stereo while each time signature, skull crushing riff, and sheer aural heaviness pummel you for
26 minutes."(Read Full Review)
Ryan Hall / Tome To The Weather Machine
"Thirty Nothing is quite an epic journey through noise, experimental, and melodic
rock."(Read Full Review)
Marilyn Roxie / A Future In Noise
"The (Thirty Nothing) disc really slays, and if you're into slayage with an experimental
slant and openness toward unabashed riffery this is right there. One to watch for sure,
keep your eyes peeled. Or just scope their site and grab yourself a copy." (Read Full Review)
Henry Smith / The Ear Conditioned Nightmare
"Insatiable energy smacking your face and filling it with bruises." (Read Full Translated Review)
Dimitrios Papadopoulos / Tranzistor
"...what I admire about The Brown Book is the ability to use rock chords to generate
walls of noise without everything blurring at the edges..."(Read Full Review)
Peter Bebergal / Mystery Theater
There is something within these seven tracks for just about anyone, at times brutal, at
times fairly catchy, great driving music if you like to speed."(Read Full Review)
Rob Funkhouser / Hawaiian Winter
"Thirty-Nothing is a savage beast that sounds a lot like it's sources. But this is different
because it's not Battles, it's not Oxes, it's The Brown Book."(Read Full Review)
Justin Snow / Anti-Gravity Bunny
Shawn M. Haney / Northeast Performer
This quartet from Boston has created a monster of an album. A wall of noise and energy,
the sounds are utterly mesmerizing without the use of lyrics or words. It feels as if
they paint the room with their music with controlled chaos, without letting go of their
sense of overall creative design.
“Deerheads” opens up the seven-song behemoth, filed with distortion, percussive fury and
riveting baselines – all making up a collective blanket of musical mayhem. The record
soars to dizzying heights as “Fat Birds” and “Snuff King” paint a picture of freedom,
passion and raw fury. “Family Outing” is the epic of this album, over seven minutes in
length. Featuring lush percussion and a beautiful tapestry of guitars and bass, the band
sheds light on its inner-personality as a whole group, feeding both the joyful moments in
today’s life and the volatile destructions forces in the world that burden us.
This music of devastating charm and heart-wrenching emotion genuinely captivates the soul
and sweeps the spirit. It just takes a little patience, an opening of the soul and
letting go to feel the resonating meaning of this work, and The Brown Book’s intended
message.
“Jumping the Shark” seems to successfully place this listener into a boat in the middle of
the ocean, away from the safety of the shore, in the midst of the angers of the sea’s
creatures. Just revealing the song titles and trying hard to reflect on your own personal
connection with each track is all the more special. The farewell track, “There is a Boy
Looking at Us” feels as if The Brown Book are frolicking and having the time of their life.
Still, as in the song’s middle section, it’s great to hear a bit of a rest with some colorful
math/prog-rock textures to aid dynamics.
There are no words here, just noise rock. Yet this music is woven so well with structure and
subtle intricacy, that through repeated listens, it can be all the more entertaining.
Oh My Rockness!
The Brown Book are an explosive instrumental band out of Brooklyn (and Massachusetts,
too) that used to be called Banana Hands. I'd never heard of either Banana Hands or The
Brown Book until a few weeks ago. And man, did I miss the boat on these dudes. These
guys took me by complete surprise.
After listening to a few of The Brown Book's songs, each one better than the song before,
the adjectives just started spewing out of me: hard! loud! dirty! relentless! angry!
sludgy! tight! Then two verbs came out like a full-on four man blitz: rock! roll! I'll
let the band handle the nouns.
They list Big Black, Iron Maiden, The Fucking Champs and Unwound as some of their
influences. But really, they should be compared to Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Obama
and Queen Latifa. Because this band RULES. I highly suggest you go see them. Getting your
ear drums destroyed will never feel so satisfyingly painful.
David Stockwel / Diskant
The Brown Book are a noise rock band from near Boston, USA. They’ve been going for nigh-on
5 years and this is their latest release, currently being sold in handmade self-released
versions. If anyone wants to put out an “official” release for them, that would be just fine.
An experimental rock-based band, The Brown Book take the standard template of 2 guitars+
bass+drums, get a shitload of heaviness on board and then set their sights for the stars. It’s so
refreshing to hear a band revelling in huge lumpen chunks of volume who actually have more
than one change of gear in their setup -opener “Deer Heads” starts with nothing more than the
beauteous feeding back of guitars merging melodies… until the drums and bass come piling
onto the mix with a wickedly fast lurch that finally turns into some kind of a twisted groove.
It’s a complex rhythm and structure that also is interesting and pleasurable to listen to - a
rare combination when it comes to experimental music.
More combinations and experiments with tempo and rhythm continue with “Family Outing”,
which starts out with spare drums and a slow looming chord progression, both of which slowly
fill out further and further until around the halfway mark, they shift matters into top gear
and everything starts going absolutely batshit. There’s a pause for a few seconds, more madness,
then another side-shift to a different, bobbing rhythm that would completely do your neck in if
you tried to tried to headbang along. I’d love to see audiences get totally blown away but
confused by this shit.
It’s not just the ideas that are impressive, it’s the sheer intensity of their application that
mark out The Brown Book for me - they know exactly when to play it cool, when to totally go
for it, and when to grind to sudden halts to keep you on your toes. They play a really nice mix
of so-called “math rock” grooves, drones, heavyheavy riffs and total shredding insanity. There’s
even some lighter textures on the deceptively melodious mid-album track “Jumping The Shark”
(winner of the prestigious Best Song Title I’ve Heard In A While award) that offer welcome
respite from the exhausting flurry of ideas, rhythms, textures and walloping noise that fill
out the rest of the album. That said, it still manages to turn into a surprisingly anthemic
stadium-filler halfway through.
If I were to have one criticism of The Brown Book, I’d say that though the recording and
mastering here have been done by some established names Keith Souza (Battles, Lightning
Bolt), Alan Douches (Animal Collective, Don Caballero)) their sound could really benefit from
a little clarity - easing off a little on the distortion to give a really nastily hard-hitting
cleanliness to their guitars, and backing off the reverb/delay that muddies some of the more
frantic playing could give The Brown Book one hell of a smack-in-the-mouth sucker punch of a
sound.
Overall though, if any of this sounds remotely interesting you should definitely check this band
out - a bunch of guys totally into making music that interests and excites them as much as
pleasing an audience, and really doing a fine thing making their music available to people without
waiting around for someone with some cash to pull their thumb our of their ass and release this
rather fine record. Do it.
Ryan Hall / Tome To The Weather Machine
Yes. This is brutally heavy and technically amazing. But the kids want to dance these days. Every
sub-genre has it's own dance. Heavy Metal has head banging, Hardcore should really be labeled as
a sport, like mixed-martial arts, and indie rock has it's own brand of self-aware posturing. But
really how do you bro down to math rock? Faking a seizure would be a start, I guess. The Brown
Book avoids the Math-Rock tags of being overly ponderous and un-listenable by throwing post-rock
sensibilities, Sabbath riffs, and Math time signatures into a blender and playing as fast as they
can what comes out the other side. Hailing from outside of Boston Thirty-Nothing was recorded by
Keith Souza who manned the helm for Battles and Lightning Bolt. The Brown Book really should be
uttered in the same breath as these prog and noise stalwarts. Thirty-Nothing retains the heaviness
of pioneering bands like Botch and Hella while minding the listenability and disregard for
pretension of the big, cheesy riffs of Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden. So often we listen to music
for the expected pay off; the crescendo of post rock, the breakdown in heavy metal and hardcore,
every song seems to be building to some point in which the listener feels validated. The Brown Book
transcends these cliches by keeping you pinned to the stereo while each time signature, skull
crushing riff, and sheer aural heaviness pummel you for 26 minutes.
Marilyn Roxie / A Future in Noise
The Brown Book are an instrumental rock group that formed circa 2004 around
Boston, Massachusetts- their current line-up consists of Ryan Lavery on drums,
John O'Malley and Mike Kvidera on guitar, and Todd Bowser on bass. With Keith
Souza asengineer (Battles, Lightning Bolt, Neptune) and Alan Douches (Animal
Collective, Don Caballero) doing the mastering, Thirty Nothing is quite an epic
journey through noise, experimental, and melodic rock.
"Deer Heads" is an introduction to the upcoming experience, with start-stop
instrumentation, and a musical tightness and harmony between the four that lasts
the whole album through. "Fat Birds" and "Snuff King" are excellent jams that
could rub shoulders with the sounds of the best noise rock groups (Lightning Bolt
and Liars, in my book). "Family Outing" spreads its sound through distortion,
creeping along until the finish, picking up in intensity along the way. "Jumping
the Shark", though with a lighter vibe perhaps than the other album tracks, retains
the sonic bite that appears to be a Brown Book trademark- these guys don't play it
safe. "Half Bald" is my favourite of the bunch, with its frenetic drum intro and
synchronized guitars. Closer "There is a Boy Looking at Us" ends the album on a
positive, albeit crunchy, note, making Thirty Nothing a well-rounded, satisfying
release.
The Ear-Conditioned Nightmare / Henry Smith
Here's a little disc I got sent a while back from Ryan Lavery. Hailing from the Boston
area, this quartet of fellow Massachusettsers mix equal parts mathy metal with more
experimental and drone sensibilities for a highly together and realized sound that avoids
a lot of the pitfalls of groups like Battles, etc., who I really could not care much less
about. Instead, the musicianship here is impressive, but balanced by a genuinely
experimental side that nevertheless is sculpted into song formats.
The opening "Deer Heads" is a case-in-point. Starting with an aimless drifting drone line,
the sharp thud of drums and bass soon present themselves, driving it forward with exacting
momentum. The dudes really can play too, and though the riffs may initially appear pretty
progged-out, they work and rework them, staying close enough to mobilize them into a real
frenzy. All instrumental too, which is nice for a unit of this precision. "Fat Birds" has
a similarly explosive rhetoric that grooves mightily in the wake of the pounding drum line.
A real barn burner that seems to have its sights set on the horizon, but that is too deeply
ensconced in the riffage to bother looking toward the foothills. This spot works too.
Other highlights include "Snuff King," with its brittle guitar looping buildup, and "Half
Bald," probably the most ruthless and hardcore-based track here, which I'm a total sucker
for. The disc really slays, and if you're into slayage with an experimental slant and
openness toward unabashed riffery this is right there. One to watch for sure, keep your
eyes peeled. Or just scope their site and grab yourself a copy.
Dimitrios Papadopoulos / Tranzistor
The Brown Book measure almost five years of life. After a few EP's, one demo and a split
it was time for their first official release. They recruited Keith Souza (Battles,
Lightning Bolt & Neptune) and Alan Douches (Animal Collective & Don Caballero) in order
to control their outbursting sound. Because this enormous sound needs experienced riders
to master. Imagine the most ferocious, brutal bull in an arena against a rookie
bullfighter; it wouldn't be so fair, for both of them. Since the frantic pace of our
quartet got into boundaries and the compositions reach their peak.
Thirty Nothing arrived in our hands in a demo form or in a handmade package for the
moment, the official release is expected within the year. Twenty-five minutes
with background noise, chaotic outbursts and psychedelic riffs. Insatiable energy
smacking your face and filling it with bruises. I don't know how this monster sounds
in a live performance, but they must have limitless forces, especially the drummer!
Respect.
Peter Bebergal / Mystery Theater
Soon after writing about Grails, I was sent a CD by The Brown Book, a particularly
heavy combination of melody and drone that avoids metal trappings. Given their
speed and the moments of drum-stick raising nods, it's hard to imagine how they keep
it all under control. There is a unique use of reference material, from Robert Fripp
to Battles. But what I admire about The Brown Book is the ability to use rock chords
to generate walls of noise without everything blurring at the edges like so many My
Bloody Valentine clones.
I realize I have said this a number of times, but to hear experimental music- -
characterized by chance moments of elegance and remarkable musicianshipby--that is
delightfully heavy without wallowing in the ubiquitous morass of volcanic sludge is
joyful. You can hear the comradery, which for the listener, is like getting to be a
fly on the wall of some secret fraternity where the brothers ritually make fantastic
noise in order to evoke their own unique kind of transcendence. When you crack open
the alchemist's stone and the light of the gods rushes out, it's a mighty good idea
to have some guitars on hand to channel all that energy.
As I was listening to Thirty Nothing, my doorbell rang and snapped me back to my
normal consciousness. At the door was a quiet young man tenderly holding a bible. He
was achingly shy, and tentativily held out a little pamphlet announcing an Easter
event. I explained that we were actually celebrating Passover, and he respectfully
pulled back the pamphlet. It made me realize again there are all these different
narratives we each possess about some aspect of the world. This week is about that
peculiar narrative of a group of slaves (slaves who also possess a very specific
knowledge of building and artifice that even their masters didn't have) who find
their way to freedom. These builders eventually make it to their promised land where
they again will construct another great wonder of the world, a temple that like the
ones they were forced to build was intendend to be a house for their god. (And even
after the temple is built, King Solomon exclaims, "How can anything contain you?")
Music also is a construction of certain elements, using a craft, that attempts to
contain some idea or feeling. And with something like The Brown Book, you can hear
the way the intent is straining at the seams, like these guys know that at some point
its all artifice, but artifice (and story, and myth, and ritual) is all we have. So
they go at it anyway, and it sounds like it might overtake them, but again, like any
strong community, they withstand it together, even as they build it up, and afterwards
there is something to point to, to say, "We did the best we could to give that
ineffable thing a form," but we could only do it together.
Rob Funkhouser / Hawaiian Winter
The Brown Book / Thirty Nothing : 8.7/10
The Brown Book is a name I wasn't familiar with until the band recently contacted me
about their album, Thirty Nothing. Based on the press release that they sent along with
the album, it seems these guys have been getting a fair amount of press already. This
is certainly not undeserved. Going instrumental with a typical band instrumentation is
nothing new to music over the last few years, but The Brown Book has brought something
unique to the table.
While most instrumental bands attempt to ascend great heights with their music (some
with greater success than others), The Brown Book is content to play to their medium
in a fairly straightforward way. Walls of fuzzed-out guitars meet drums in a way that
might be more expected from band with a vocalist. That being said, this album is happily
pretension free. This might be the closest to the punk rock equivalent of the
instrumental scene right now in terms of the overall aesthetic of the album. Not overly
technical or cinematic, this album is best heard LOUD.
There is something within these seven tracks for just about anyone, at times brutal, at
times fairly catchy, great driving music if you like to speed. I'm looking forward to
their future output, as the potential here is enticing.
Justin Snow / Anti-Gravity Bunny
The Brown Book has been touted lately by themselves and others about how their new
album, Thirty-Nothing, was produced by Keith Souza (Battles, Lightning Bolt, Neptune)
and mastered by Alan Douches (Animal Collective, Don Caballero) and I said to myself,
"Don't bring that shit up in your review. It doesn't matter. It's all about the
music." But, I just did. So deal with it.
Imagine a destruction derby with (yeah) Battles, Lightning Bolt, and (this one's
mine) Oxes all driving their little destructo-machines, smashing into each other,
creating ridiculous amounts of energy and friction. They're all dukin' it out, being
as fucking intense and vicious as possible. Eventually, Oxes win, and their prize is
Thirty-Nothing, a record that is fucking dense and a half.
I'm not gonna lie to you (I'm not a god damn monster), there's not a whole ton of
original sounds coming from The Brown Book. Thirty-Nothing is a savage beast that
sounds a lot like it's sources. But this is different because it's not Battles, it's
not Oxes, it's The Brown Book. And I can pretty much guarantee you haven't heard them.
So it's new. And it's good. The journey is still an exciting one and a few surprises
do turn up. So when this comes out, grab a copy and whole up until Oxxxxxxxxes comes
out.