The closest I’ve ever come to liking jam band music was 2009. Along with most of the indie rock blogosphere at the time, I fell head over heels in love with Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective. That album got tagged as “accessible” and “pop,” much to the dismay of their long-term fans. I’d heard of the band for years, and I especially enjoyed 2005’s Feels for its wonky, effects-heavy brand of folk music.
However, it was the Fall Be Kind EP released later that year that nearly set me on the path to exploring the wider jam band universe. You see, the lead track from that Animal Collective project was “What Would I Want? Sky,” which served as the first time The Grateful Dead had ever approved a sample of their music. My immediate thought was, “I’ve dismissed such acts for years, but if this critically acclaimed indie rock band likes them, maybe I should give them another chance.”
I quickly consulted with a coworker known to be a big fan of such music, complete with a summer spent following one of his favorite acts on tour. But after giving his recommendations an honest try, I decided that jam bands probably weren’t my thing.
Until I heard Petunia, the new album from Tonstartssbandht.
Comprised of brothers Andy and Edwin White, this long-running duo has delivered a sparkling collection of tripped-out psych-folk. The seven-song project released on Mexican Summer made me question everything I thought I knew about my musical tastes. The twosome have created sweet, hippiefied folk tunes that are warm and approachable, even as five of them are over 6 minutes long.
At the very first listen, my mouth fell agape at how comfy yet experimental this music feels. It manages to be airy and dreamy but somehow tethered to reality. The brothers voices – frequently in harmony and falsetto – conjure up images of woodland nymphs that are both elegant and playful in spirit. You immediately recognize that the guys have fun together, but they also resist generic jamming for artful compositions.
Tonstartssbandht’s roots in the jam band milieu stand out immediately.
The album opens with the lilting, pastoral ambiance of “Pass Away.” Plucked guitar melodies dance like satyrs in a forest grove, while the brothers’ harmony vocals lull you into a welcome reverie. With “Hey Bad,” the interplay of syncopated drum rhythms and inventive riffs calls to mind a confident strut through the morning dew of a mountain meadow. The krautrock drum patterns and prog-rock guitar figures of “Falloff” conjure up this swirling sensation that’s wholly mesmerizing.
The individual textures on display are delicate and wisp-thin, but when layered upon each other, the music reveals its character and substance. It’s as if this curious combination of CSNY, Joanna Newsom, and My Morning Jacket fused consciousness and reincarnated in Florida. I remain gobsmacked by the intense arrangements, chord progressions, and profound resonance of this album.
I cannot overstate the sublime handiwork on display throughout Petunia.
Andy’s guitar work centers around country-jazz fills and melodies, but his impeccable lead lines steal the show. His dainty, yet determined delivery features firm phrasing that never overpowers the listener. Edwin’s syncopated drumming embraces subtle flashes of brilliance while rejecting artifice and bombast. It’s a spectacular demonstration of understated charm that still knows how to lay down powerful, rocking grooves.
The ultimate strength of Tonstartssbandht lies in how effortlessly the brothers weave together their intricate creation. Throughout Petunia, their voices fit together seamlessly, while the music combines technical precision with ebullient energy. With eighteen prior albums of material for me to dig into, I plan to immerse myself in the band’s catalog in 2022.