Brett Newski
Land Air Sea Garage
(Self-Release)
Folk/indie pop/acoustic punk hybrid Brett Newski may technically call Wisconsin home, but he’s pretty much a 21st century version of a troubadour. Constantly crossing the globe to tour, he’s usually alone on the stage with a tambourine strapped to his foot, tapping the beat onto an electronic drum while he strums his guitar and belts out the lyrics. And while Newski may be DIY to the core on the road, his latest record, much like his last few albums, comes complete with a backing band.
Land Air Sea Garage, offered up about 6 months after the stellar D.I.Y. EP, pays off on all the promises hinted at on that earlier effort. The songs here, like “I Won’t Die a Nun” and “Bending Spoons & Skipping Prayers” are easily among the best Newski has ever committed to tape in the studio (or whatever the 2016 version of tape is. Digital files?).
Across nearly a dozen tracks he manages to come off as vulnerable (without all that emo baggage), extremely witty (“D.I.Y.,” is still one of the finest songs ever written about the realities of playing a show) and smart without pretention. Newski’s lyrical voice recalls everyone from Randy Newman to Loudon Wainwright, III, a claim few of his contemporaries can brag about.
Land Air Sea Garage manages to be sonically more expansive than 2014’s American Folk Armageddon without losing any of the indie, well, fuck-it-if-no-one-is-listening appeal that was the hallmark of that release.
Purchase Land Air Sea Garage here.
