Tim Barry - 28th & Stonewall Review

Posted by Mac Scarle on 02.27.2010

The former Avail frontman releases his third solo country effort...



Tracklisting:
1.“Thing Of The Past”
2.Bozeman
3.Gabriel Intro
4.Prosser's Gabriel
5.Walk 500 Miles
6.No BS Warm Up
7.Will Travel
8.Moving On Blue
9.Downtown VCU
10.Short G'Bye
11.11/7
12.With Ease I Leave
13.(Memento Mori)
14.Bus Driver

Much like other 80s and 90s punk rock stalwarts like Kevin Seconds and Matt Skiba, former Avail frontman Tim Barry has branched out into a more “mature” solo career in the past few years. Unlike most of his contemporaries, however, Barry has stayed true to his Richmond, Virginia roots and stuck to a raw country/bluegrass-influenced sound throughout his solo career. 28th & Stonewall is his third solo album, and having never heard his previous work – or really cared for Avail, quite frankly – I didn't exactly come into this with a clean slate.

Let's start with the negatives and just get them out of the way, since there really aren't that many to speak of. The album's opener, “Thing Of The Past,” just didn't sit well with me. Knowing Barry's background, and having an unquenchable hatred for modern pop-country, this just wasn't...raw enough for me. It's just a little too clean, a little too accessible. It's a minor, niggling complaint, and I understand that, but it just sounded too much like a radio country track to me. I was not a fan. Also, although I didn't really mind “Downtown VCU” as a song, thematically it just doesn't quite fit with the rest of the record.

That's it, really. Those are my only complaints. Other than those two nagging irritants, this is a pretty solid record. It's not fantastic, but it's very far from bad. Barry has a great voice for this kind of music, gravelly and rough but still more than able to carry a tune. His songwriting abilities are a lot more interesting and entertaining than I ever remember them being with Avail – most of the material on show here is some real heart-on-the-sleeve, whiskey-soaked kind of stuff, the way good country music should be. Aside from the opening track and the somewhat dissonant lyrical themes in “Downtown VCU,” there aren't any truly bad songs, though some of them (“Walk 500 Miles”) are slightly forgettable.

As mentioned previously, there's a lot of real down-and-out style country on this record, including the absolutely beautiful piano and violin-driven “Moving On Blue,” a song that I know I'm sure I'll be listening to on some drunken post-breakup night at some point later on in life. If you're into this kind of trivia, the song also features Daniel Clark, known for his keyboard work with Ryan Adams.“With Ease I Leave” is a mellow, haunting transient's anthem, with Barry singing “with ease I leave, before my roots have grown.”

But as good as the sad, end-of-the-bar songs are, the foot-stompers are equally good, albeit in an entirely different form. “Will Travel” is a fun, drunken New Orleans-style jam, filled with bleating horns and pianos, and the album's closer, “Bus Driver,” is a pretty hilariously snotty take on modern rock music living. It's a total rejection of what modern punk rock has become, done in the form of a shout-along chorus and some really good humor. If I was an Avail fan, I'd write off any hopes of a reunion tour, solely based on this song.

The real standout of 28th & Stonewall, though, is “Prosser's Gabriel,” a rage-filled account of a failed slave revolt in Virginia. This is, simply put, a fantastic song. It's angry as hell but not overdone, and written in a storytelling old-school folk music fashion, a la Woody Guthrie.. The song has recently been featured in Beyond Race magazine, and it's hands-down the best track of the record. It's some real heart-wrenching, poignant stuff.

Barry is hardly the first former punker to make the crossover to the solo acoustic realm, but he's definitely got something different going on with his more country-focused undertakings. This is a great summer record, good for sitting on the porch sipping your beverage of choice, but don't let the fact that it's only February stop you – this is one worth giving a listen to.

The 411: Aside from two not-so-great tracks, 28th & Stonewall is a solid country record, showing off Barry's songwriting chops, especially on tracks like "Prosser's Gabriel" - already one of my favorite songs of the year - and "Moving On Blue." From heartstring-tugging closing time ballads to foot-stomping party songs, this album covers a pretty wide range of country sounds, and does it admirably. If you like your country slightly raw and dirty, definitely give this one a listen.

Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]