REVIEW: The Brian Shapiro Band — It’s Amazing! (LP)
The Brian Shapiro Band’s sophomore album It’s Amazing isn’t content following the same idiosyncratic path that the band set off on with their 2021 debut. He’s ready to double down on All That We See’s boldness with wider ambitions and occasionally astonishing risks. The fierce intelligence powering his songwriting doesn’t announce itself immediately but, instead, bobs and weaves while picking its shots with the audience. “Ambitigeddon” isn’t wordy but takes dead aim at overweening ambition and finds its mark.
Familiar instruments provide the bulk of the song’s backing, but they take the path less traveled. You can hear the song conforming to a recognizable structure, but Shapiro orchestrates those elements in unique ways, and it has no obvious antecedents. His vocal delivery locks in the song’s offbeat spirit without ever alienating listeners and that’s an important distinction about his art. Shapiro is able to pull off the rare balance of following his muse wherever she leads while still bringing the audience along with him.
“Am Now” isn’t a full 180 degree turn away from the first track, but it’s a clear break. It’s much more overtly personal than other songs on the album without ever sounding painfully so. There’s a bit of a raving quality in Shapiro’s vocals, here and elsewhere, though never underestimate Shapiro’s emotive capacity. He doesn’t demean the apparent hard-won lessons and difficulties depicted in the lyric with a facile approach though Shapiro’s singing crackles with surprising charisma.
BANDCAMP: https://brianshapiroband.bandcamp.com/album/its-amazing
It gives the collection a showy personality without ever sounding stagy. The songs are undoubtedly plotted out, and carefully composed, but they achieve a surprisingly spontaneous feel. “More Memories” is one of the album’s high points and the greatest Tom Waits song he never sang. What makes the review say this is it’s unlike any love song you’ve ever heard and the pairing of Alex Posmontier’s piano with a soulful Shapiro vocal suggests the great singer/songwriter’s work. You may have to stop listening to the album for a few minutes to get the smile wiped off your face.
“New Newz” is another kicker. This is true in more ways than one as the hard charging backing brings Shapiro and his bamd mates closer to outright rock and roll than ever before. The songwriting, however, is likely very different from anything you’ve heard before. It’s a definite experiment. It makes a definite statement, as well, rather than coming across as a gimmick. Vibraphone appears on a handful of It’s Amazing tracks and Behn Gillece’s contributions to this track are his most memorable.
You wouldn’t associate it with anything resembling pop but “Savor” takes us in that direction. It is minimalist, Shapiro and the band never overstep, and it highlights the track’s lyrics. One of Shapiro’s core messages is the need to value your life and time. It embraces a mandate of putting one’s days to good use. His songwriting point of view has variations over the course of the album’s ten songs but, in the end, it shares a common thread of seeing the truth behind life’s illusions. Don’t let the playfulness here and elsewhere fool you, the Brian Shapiro Band’s It’s Amazing! is a major statement.
Colin Jordan
