I am so biased towards the Avett Brothers and want to review everything they do as 10/10 work... but this just isn't that. Half of the album is political, but not even in a smart way. We Americans, Bang Bang, and New Woman's World are all making these grand statements and lack the beautiful poetry and writing to back it up. It also just feels like they've said in their writing that they don't want to talk about and care about politics too much... and then they don't back that up in this album. It's like a complete shift, and I don't even feel like I know them anymore. For example, "Displaced by greed and the arrogance of manifest destiny/Short-sighted to say it was a long time ago/Not even two lifetimes have passed since the days of Lincoln" is soooo pointed and on the nose. I'm not saying the topics shouldn't be discussed and art IS and SHOULD BE political, but it just feels like they're trying to mention every awful thing people in history did as a check list and how we now should say shame on them and change our ways now. I actually would say it's short sighted and shallow minded to say now that we should go back and undo the 'sins' of the past because of our standards today. For better or for worse, we wouldn't be sitting where we are today without those things. I don't know... I just think these songs tackle these topics from a misguided point of view and from a saint perspective when the world is different now so of course our standards are different now. Also, the rest of the album is more or less boring, but I do really enjoy the songs Locked Up, Bleeding White, It's Raining Today, and Better Here (hence the 4/10 rating). But overall, this album feels like it's lost the Avett Brothers' normal song writing teeth. I really thought I would disagree with the haters on this album... but I really don't. It's not awful, it's just boring and lacks nuance on political topics that deserve nuance. Also, as a woman, New Woman's World is so cringe, in my opinion.
