Zach Bryan- Self Titled
…and written, and produced, and managed…. To be honest, I’m surprised he didn’t hand print the vinyls himself.
In case you missed it, Zach Bryan released an album. It is unusual that I cover albums so soon after release and in fact, the reason why this is appearing so quickly is because I did not write the majority of the piece. I did not listen to the Zach Bryan album with the ear for nuance and depth that it requires. I would need a good few more spins. However, an acquaintance and reader of Today I Heard did carefully parse the album and has already amassed untold hours of listening. As was the case with American Heartbreak, he deigned to take some of his time and write down thoughts. It will be following a track by track breakdown as he felt that was the best possible way of experiencing the project.
The Zach Bryan phenomenon has been happening for a few years now. As it grows, more people become alerted to its existence. There was a great article in Variety reviewing the ZB album and it compared Bryan to a young Bruce Springsteen, and how this album a Nebraska moment. The idea is that even as Bruce Springsteen was approaching his commercial peak, he thumbed his nose at the establishment, pushed for his artistic integrity, and recorded a wildly out of left field passion project. I do understand the comparison. Perhaps someone who is not clued in to Zach Bryan as an artist would find that to be an apt comparison and useful heuristic. I feel that, quibbles with the details aside, drawing such a strong parallel to the past negates the uniqueness of the Zach Bryan Phenomenon. It is not a late 70s Springsteen, it is not an early 1990s Cobain. It is something of its own, albeit with some elements of similarity.
This feels like a key point in Zach’s career. If American Heartbreak was him surfacing out of the digital world of YouTube covers and viral lo-fi recordings, (and some irl recorded acoustic EPs) and entering into the “real world”. Perhaps the world isn’t yet quite sure of what to make of him. When a rookie appears on the scene, the league doesn’t really know what to make of him. It is only upon the second year or the second album, that a context begins to form. Was this a victim of circumstances? Was it a one shot wonder? Will he burn out? And so on…. It is specifically in this critical stage of forming context that Zach Bryan has taken a bold step. He took further control of his music in every way- production, writing, even managing his touring- and has genuinely embodied the independent ethos that has bubbling underneath for so many years and is now coming to the surface with a vengeance. And all this without besmirching his commercial viability! It is quite a moment to be present for.
Reviewing this album is not just reviewing any album. It is reviewing a movement and reviewing fan idea via the lens of the album. Without further ado…. ladies and gentlemen…. Zach Bryan!
The record opens on Zach Bryan alone with his guitar, reciting a simple poem, “Fear and Friday’s (Poem),” that sets the stage of what this album is about- Zach himself. His experiences, his thoughts, and his feelings. This album is made clear to be Bryan’s through and through, from the beginning.
Opening with a riff of “The Star Spangled Banner,” this song marks the end of the American Heartbreak era, and our entry into Bryan’s self-titled, self discovery phase of his career. “Overtime” screams out to Bryan’s doubters that he’s made it, and he’s worked hard to get to where he is— and he will continue to work just as hard to stay there.
“Summertime’s Close,” opens with a praising of a loved one, presumably Bryan’s mother, stating “I ain’t ever been baptized in water as cool as you.” Throughout, the song grows into a tragedy, speaking of “when you got sick,” and finally closing on a somber, “and now I’m dancing for two,” this track is sure to bring the strongest of people to tears with its evolving chorus.
“East Side of Sorrow” takes a walk through Bryan’s Navy experience, and losing his mother while being an active service member. A song about picking yourself up in the bleakest of times, and moving forward, not letting sorrow strangle you forever.
“Hey Driver” gives view to an existential crisis that Bryan is experiencing, where he is losing his faith, tired of the world beating him down, and giving the reins to the direction of his life to his driver, exclaiming “just drive until the tires melt, and come back when it’s healed.”
Fear and Friday’s is an upbeat and dreadful banger, scared of an on-again-off-again relationship going off once more, in the stylization of songs like “Rivers of Babylon” by Sublime.
“I love you, and I’m willing, but I cannot keep you girl” opens “Ticking,” another existential crisis of a track, where Bryan is young, in love, scared, and finding where he is. By his second chorus, Bryan cries, “there’s time ticking on the interstate” showing a high level of emotion and how simply it comes across in his voice.
A simple tune featuring fellow star Sierra Ferrell, “Holy Roller” tells the story of Bryan in love, finding a reason to exist in the eyes of a lover, and everything they remind them of about the world they are unequivocally enthralled by.
“Jake’s Piano - Long Island” splits the album perfectly in half, the eighth of fifteen songs, beginning with a lamentable ballad about his mother, and at the halfway point, going into the back half of the record, changes into “Long Island,” in which he mourns over a broken heart, reminiscent of “Codeine Pills”
One line strikes me as indicative that this album is chock full of great imagery, in the song “El Dorado,” when Bryan reminisces, “Seventeen years-old, how our grins look scary brave, My momma always said we look so handsome when we shave.” With backing vocals from his deeply talented band mates, this song, whose proceeds are all going to McCaffrey’s 22 and Troops foundation, paints the story of a young man presumably lost whilst serving in the United States Marine Corps.
A bleak look back on the end of a relationship, giving insight to the broken mind of Bryan, insisting “rot gut whiskey’s gonna ease my mind” and that “grown men don’t cry”, “I Remember Everything” is chilling in its bluntness, and a depressing reality to many.
“But you’re prayin’ for the winter, and your face is gettin’ thinner, and I heard you fucked it up with her” in “Tourniquet” strikes hard, showing from an outside perspective how Zach has been affected by his quick rise to rockstar status. “You’ve been stabbed in your back and the rest of your body,” shows the “damage that some days in this dark world does.”
“Spotless” shows a story indicative of Bryan’s previous “Leaving,” where he laments about his mistakes in life, stating that he is “a self destructive landslide, if you want to be the hill.” The life of a jaded man has been spent on things less than savory, and the hurt in that reality.
“Tradesman” is like “Cold, Damn Vampires,” a song featured on Bryan’s previous record; gothic, brooding, anti-establishment, and longing for freedom. Begging for a simpler life, snarling what might be the heaviest hitting verse on the whole record “So give me something I can’t fake, that rich boys can’t manipulate. Something real they can’t take, cause Lord I’m not your star.”
“Smaller Acts” is a simple song, about the beauty Zach finds in his lover, and her value of “Smaller acts” over large gestures of affection.
“Oklahoman Son” closes the record in a way not unfamiliar to veteran Zach Bryan listeners, alone with his guitar, wishing to go home to Oklahoma, and “be a little better off than I am right now.”
This album is absolutely beautifully crafted, written, performed, and produced. Worthy of its self-title, this album is what Zach Bryan is about. This is his sound, and exactly how he wants to be heard.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed!
I’m excited to announce that September will be devoted to a massive review project entitled The Backlog. Although this isn’t a review blog strictly speaking, we take the discovery of music very seriously. Throughout the year, I have carefully saved albums and singles that I either enjoyed or had sufficient hype that it felt necessary to check out. I will be reviewing the massive and constantly growing list in a short form blurb/paragraph style. That means September will be a month of intensive researching and listening to new music. I am excited and hope you are as well. At this moment, I am aiming for a four part series. That very well may expand. If there are any albums or singles you think ought to be covered, post it below. Hold on to your hats!
-Joe