ALBUM REVIEW: Gregor Barnett – Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave (Epitaph Records)
If the name Gregor Barnett isn’t immediately familiar, the voice soon will be within seconds of the vocals kicking in on the opening track of this debut solo album.
Gregor Barnett is guitarist and co-vocalist of Scranton, Pennsylvania, punk band The Menzingers, who just happen to be one of my very favourite bands.
Anyone who enjoys their emotional blue-collar punk will also love Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave, in the same way Brian Fallon’s solo work appeals to fans of The Gaslight Anthem and Chuck Ragan’s to Hot Water Music followers.
The 10 tracks are all Barnett compositions, recorded with producer and longtime collaborator Will Yip (Mannequin Pussy, Quicksand) in just two and a half weeks.
Yip played drums and they brought in Barnett’s Menzingers bandmates Eric Keen to play bass and Joe Godino to add percussion. So he didn’t feel left out, co-vocalist Tom May took the record’s cover photo.
Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter Barnett tells these stories with a folkier style than he does in The Menzingers, but the lyrics are just as compelling and likely to grab you by the heartstrings.
Americana
The title track, released as the lead single, is a country-tinged slice of Americana, about celebrating our loved ones while they’re still with us, rather than after they’ve gone.
Latest single Driving Through the Night is a blissful song which takes pleasure in contemplating the enormity of the universe and feeling utterly alone. It’s probably the most Menzingers-like track here.
Many of the songs contemplate the subject of death, which makes you wonder if Barnett is mourning loved ones. If so, this album is a fitting epitaph for those he has lost.
The First Dead Body I Ever Saw is a slow-tempoed slice of cowboy punk about finding an elderly neighbour who had passed away.
Anyone who’s had to cope with bereavement when they were young will identify with the lyric “you were the first dead body I ever saw, and I collapsed against the wall, I couldn’t breathe, I was just a kid, barely 13”.
The death theme continues with the more upbeat Talking To Your Tombstone, which has twangy guitars and a shuffling beat, but the gloom returns for No Peace Of Mind To Rest, a gorgeous, harmonica-drenched rumination on depression.
Hurry Me Down To Hades is another slow song, but with a piercing guitar riff and great bassline, and Anthem For The One I Love is another more upbeat tune, again with a hint of country about it.
Melancholic masterpiece
The piece de resistance is the final track, Guest In Your House, which us takes full circle back to the subject of mortality.
Things don’t get much more melancholy as Barnett recalls childhood memories of a kindly uncle, but what a beautiful song, with piano and gentle strummed guitar making it the standout track.
Barnett will be touring the UK in June, and on this form that short run of gigs will be unmissable. 8.5/10.
