EVAN BREWER HAS “VERTIGO”

I’ve been curious to hear Evan Brewer’s Alone ever since I heard the bassist discussing his intentions for the album — how “every sound you hear on the album came from a bass guitar,” because the bass is still a “young” instrument, and he wants to explore its potential, and so on and so forth. That sounds really interesting, right?

Well, now, finally, less than a week before the release of the record, there’s a track from Alone called “Vertigo” streaming online, and… yep, that’s what a bass all by itself sounds like.

Look: I don’t think it’s bad at ALL. From a music dorkery standpoint, it’s probably terrific, even. I can’t really imagine myself sitting around and listening to this a lot, though. That may say more about me than it does the album. Vince did say that “The market for these kinds of acts is limited — extremely limited, especially for a bass player.” And, well, now we know why. If you’re not fascinated by this on the most technical of levels, I’m not sure that there’s anything to hold your interest.

I guess what I’m saying is, there’s no teaspoon of sugar to help this medicine go down.

But I’m still gonna listen to Alone all the way through at least twice. I’d like to like this, I’d like to understand what Brewer is trying to achieve. I just may ultimately be one of the people who doesn’t fit into the niche market for a solo bass release.

Check out “Vertigo” for yourself here, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section. Alone comes out on Sumerian on June 28. Brewer then heads out on tour with Animals as Leaders, Intronaut, Dead Letter Circus, and Last Chance to Reason, which is a sweet, sweet-ass line-up. Here are tour dates:

07/07 San Diego, CA – Soma
07/08 Anaheim, CA – Chain Reaction
07/10 West Hollywood, CA – Key Club
07/11 Scottsdale, AZ – Martini Ranch
07/13 Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep
07/14 Wichita, KS – The Oz
07/15 Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
07/16 Joliet, IL – Mojoes
07/17 Grand Rapids, MI – The Intersection
07/18 Buffalo, NY – Mohawk Place
07/19 Farmingdale, NY – Crazy Donkey
07/20 Albany, NY – Northern Lights
07/21 Lancaster, PA – Chameleon Club
07/22 Baltimore, MD – Ottobar
07/23 Pittsburgh, PA – Diesel
07/24 Covington, KY – Mad Hatter
07/26 Greensboro, NC – Greene Street Club
07/27 Atlanta, GA – Masquerade
07/28 Charleston, SC – The Oasis
07/29 Orlando, FL – Back Booth
07/30 Mobile, AL – Alabama Music Box
07/31 Memphis, TN – Hi Tone
08/01 St. Louis, MO – Fubar
08/03 Oklahoma City, OK – The Conservatory

-AR