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Zach Bryan Brings In Bruce Springsteen for a Feature on ‘The Great American Bar Scene,’ a Record Steeped in the Boss’ Quieter Side: Album Review
Zach Bryan's July 4th album, 'The Great American Bar Scene,' features John Mayer and Bruce Springsteen; the latter's influence looms large throughout.
“I was raised by a woman who was hardly impressed / And I carry that shit real deep in my chest,” he sings in “Bass Boat,” a song that starts with memories of peaceful fishing with a father, and somehow quickly moves on to acknowledging that “even with my baby sitting next to me / I’m a self sabotaging suicide machine.” Occasionally, he’s going the more overtly “Nebraska”-ian, short-story route, like “Oak Island,” in which he identifies himself as “Mickey” and goes looking for a wayward brother who’s run afoul of some thugs, looking to straighten things out by any means necessary because “no blood in the mud I’s raised in spendslife on the run.” (The contractions “I’s,” “we’s,” “they’s” and “you’s” pop up a lot in Bryan songs.) “American Nights” is one of these standouts, for the way it takes a big volume jump on the second verse and ends up with a deliciously dry snare drum sound and a cool, miniaturist band feel you wouldn’t mind hearing a lot more of.
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