BRICK BOSSO, Birds And Believers (2020)
The underground Californian scene is as boiling as ever, with Brick Bosso’s brand new album Birds And Believers.
Brick Bosso’s apparently light Californian tone hardly hides some more socially ambitious lyrics, going from a playful look to the retail world (the up-tempo piano-driven The Hyper SuperMarket) to the story of homeless person on Walk Away, a Hollywood Boulevard vs Downtown LA-inspired song, emphasizing on the thin, very thin line between the fortunate and the unfortunate in our society. Walk Away shows welcomed fragility in Brick Bosso’s voice, making the song surprisingly emotional. The presence of a vocoder doesn’t spoil anything, quite the opposite.
Social issues has always been ska’s speciality, should we remind you that Brick Bosso is heavily into the genre? The opener Storks And Vultures with its driving beat and 60’s organ, is rather reminiscent of Bosso’s previous release Ska Time.
However the range of influences is wider here, like Hollywood Heroes, a delicate piece that slightly reminds me of Bruce Wooley’s Camera Club English Garden album, if anyone remembers. The heroes here are not who you’d think they are, Brick Bosso picturing the people dressed up as superheroes and cartoon character on Hollywood Boulevard, trying their best to make some money.
Brick Bosso seize the opportunity to tackle the apathy of politics on the ska-punk I Don’t Care At All, politics that he depicts as being theatre of the absurd.
The protest songs influence is even more obvious on the quasi-dylanesque Secular Song, sung with a camp voice and a more flamboyant style.
The mysterious Spazzmatazz is drifting away from ska, led by a driving bass and some almost chanted ‘It could happen to you, it could happen to you’. Brick Bosso invites his old friend and musical partner Mark Abbruzzese.
With the irresistibly melodic closer Birds And Believers, Brick Bosso unleashes the poet within and pays a tribute to the Monkees’ Daydream Believer.
Available on Bancamp: https://brickbosso.bandcamp.com/album/birds-and-believers
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