Franny Aliotta ’14 | Staff Writer

Folk, country, and rock all mix together yet again in The Avett Brothers eighth studio album “Magpie and the Dandelion” creating smooth and easy listening.

Because the band is originally from Concord, North Carolina and frequently sing of their lives growing up down south, they have bluegrass influences, but these perfectly match with indie rock throughout the album.

The brothers have always shown a creative music style with their beautiful mixture of banjos, organs, soft piano, harmonicas and guitar.  This album also highlights more background singing and slower love songs to add to the bands dynamic.

The album album starts off with a catchy tune called “Open Ended Life.”  The boys sing about their childhood and how they were raised which is common technique for the duo. Repeated lines in the chorus contain the lyrics, “I was taught to keep an open-ended life/ And never trap myself in nothing.” These lyrics give the song a comforting feeling to it along with fast pace violins and the right amounts of “oohs” to seamlessly create a knockout first song.

The next song, “Morning Song” exemplifies this bands power to keep producing amazing songs that are country without being too country. This song features a background chorus which adds a new special element to their style. In addition the song has sentimental and personal lyrics. “Worse than that/ Nothings really happening/ I’ve been thinkin bout drinkin again.” This is not only a personal struggle that is expressed in the song but it also helps fans connect with the music because of its openness about alcohol as an escape mechanism.

A highly relatable song “Another is Waiting.” This song brings the indie rock style to the album with the beginning fast strumming of guitar chords. “Another is Waiting” is the song that everyone can listen to and enjoy because of its likable and common organization of the song that makes the album more mainstream.

Another new element to the album is more sweet love songs like song “Bring Your Love to Me.” The song not only is soft with instrumentals but lyrics have touching poetic similes. The first lyric verse of the song brings an aspect of admiration and care; “Bring your love to me/ I will hold it like a newborn child/ One of my own blood/and I might just even sing a song to keep it calm.” These affectionate words paired with relaxed instruments form an everlasting ballad of love that shows how the brothers can talk about growing up down south yet having a soft spot.

This style is also heard in songs like “Good to You” and “Apart From Me” that also features more violins and cello. These instruments help to add to the help establish a variety of skills that the band needs because of a lack of a strong vocalist.

Although Seth and Scott Avett have distinct and worthy voices, they fall short when it comes to a range of notes and styles they can perfectly sing.  Nevertheless they make up this problem with their use of writing skills and interesting instruments.

Unfortunately, the last song is also the albums major fault. “The Clearness is Gone” is awkwardly slow in the beginning with a harsh guitar that is unfitting.  The song picks up in the reprise with a soft harmonization of violins, but is ruined by an unnecessary guitar solo.

In “Magpie and the Dandelion ” the family dynamic of the Avett Brothers comes together to create a memorable upbeat and vibrant style of music.

Grade: A-

Listen to this album if you like Mumford and Sons, Edward and the Magnetic Zeros, Dr. Dog, and Trampled by Turtles.