Album Review: The New Britton Sound – Timothy Monger

Ever secretly want to like the Decemberists, but find them much too pretentious to openly admire? Well, so do I. Enjoying the “hyper-literate” band seems to reek with the same pompousness of a Pynchon and Vonnegut-lined Ikea bookshelf.

Luckily for me and any other fans of narrative-fueled Americana, there’s a homespun alternative. Timothy Monger‘s second solo album, The New Britton Sound, has all the orchestral arrangements and lyrical whimsy that closet Decemberists fans can appreciate, but there’s no need for an MA in history to get behind the meaning of the songs.

Monger, best known as frontman from the Ann Arbor based indie-folk band, Great Lakes Myth Society, started working on The New Britton Sound while GLMS went on hiatus. Recorded primarily in a farmhouse in the village of Britton, Michigan (hence the title), the album serendipitously captures outdoor elements that leaked through the walls of the house. The crickets heard on “Witches” are live and unplanned—no canned chirping here.

Just because most of the album was recorded at home doesn’t mean the production is in any way sub-par. This isn’t your cliché folk singer wielding a cheap acoustic guitar and four-track recorder; on the contrary, Monger employs a full cavalcade of instruments throughout the album, everything from flugelhorn to Irish bagpipes. Symphonic ranges of strings, horns, and woodwinds ebb in and out through the songs, adding harmonic layers that drive the entire album.

Featured Track: “North Side of the Road” – Timothy Monger

Monger balances out the classical and folk instruments with more modern sounding arrangements, particularly in his use of percussion and fuzz guitar. The first song off The New Britton Sound, “The Lark,” layers banjo-plucking riffs under power chords, horns, and spacey keys. The result is a sound that’s equal parts bluegrass, powerpop, and twee.

At times, the album’s lush orchestrations are somewhat compromised by sappy lyrics. In “Guitar Case,” Monger wistfully personifies the title object to the point where it’s mired in sentimentality. But once you get past the mushy metaphors, it’s a beautiful song, with a string quartet arrangement that even George Martin might envy.

Towards the end of the album, the sound slows into a resonate, dreamlike state. “Broken Barrows,” the eighth track, depicts a dark, wayfaring scene, with lyrics set to mellow guitars. “Song Clerk” sounds like an acoustic blend of Radiohead and Oasis, complete with brooding vocals, hazy layers of strings, and echoing drums.

In an age where any old band can slap some recordings together, post them on bandcamp, and call it an “album,” The New Britton Sound stands out. Monger spent two years working on the record, and it shows. Every song is thoughtfully arranged. One might assume Baroque pop, folky bluegrass, Irish music, and indie rock would sound all over the map, but somehow Monger has found a way to make it work, with a sensibility that’s close to home.

Timothy Monger is celebrating the release of The New Britton Sound with a “Day Tour” on Tuesday June 21, playing ten solo shows across Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The release show for TNBS, where Monger will be joined by his band, is this Friday, June 24, at Woodruff’s in Ypsilanti, wsg Matt Jones & the Reconstruction and White Pines.