Artist: Zac Brown Band
Album: Uncaged
Label: Atlantic Records
Rating: 3.75/5
Reviewed by: Henry Lees
Zac and the boys make it all seem so effortless. Free from the chains of genre convention, Zac Brown Band is such an adept group of virtuoso players that it seems they could take on just about any musical style and wrestle it to the ground in seconds. Uncaged, the band’s fifth album and third major label release, provides another master class in musicianship palatable for a wide variety of tastes except for a few sour spots. Co-produced by Brown and the legendary Keith Stegall, the 11-song collection runs the gamut from latin-flavoured flourishes to acoustic balladry, to beach bum reggae and jam band rock and sounds like the boys relish every bit of it. Brown calls the album, “Your basic country-Southern rock-bluegrass-reggae-jam record”. That’s about as succinct as it can get for this one and that’s quite alright.
Even though they sound like they’ve had a seat at the country table for decades, ZBB really only started to amass radio hits in 2008 with the smash success of “Chicken Fried”. After that, 7 of the band’s next 9 singles found their way to the top of the charts – and the other two peaked at #2. Not a shabby initial track record by any stretch. The more than 50 Grammy, ACM, CMA, AMA and CMT award nominations the group has racked up in the last three years illustrate the big, warm bear hug that the industry has given ZBB along with the buying public. Their 2008 Atlantic/Home Grown/Bigger Picture debut The Foundation sold over triple platinum in the US and platinum in Canada. The 2010 follow up You Get What You Give added another platinum award to the pile in the US and sold Gold on this side of the border. After it’s July 10th release, Uncaged topped both the US and Canadian albums charts, marking the first time a ZBB release has achieved that feat in both countries.
Brown, the skull-capped, vocal focal point of the band, co-wrote ten of the eleven tracks on Uncaged largely with long time collaborator Wyatt Durrette and Brown’s Southern Ground label protégé Nic Cowan. A few special guest co-writers are peppered into the mix. “Jump Right In”, the sunny, latin-esque piano groover that kicks off the album, gives a co-writing credit to soul-pop wunderkind Jason Mraz. Uncaged, a 180 degree turn into jam band rock, follows next with writing credits from ZBB members Coy Bowles, John Driskell Hopkins and Jimmy De Martini next to Brown, Durette and Cowan. With its meaty, chugging riff and challenging verse rhythm, this one is primed for a stretched out treatment live. Other contributing co-writers include revered Nashville Songwriters’ Hall of Famer Mac MacAnally, Sonia Leigh and Levi Lowrey, two more of Brown’s Southern Ground label artists, as well as Montana-born singer/songwriter John Pierce.
In addition to being blessed with tight-as-a-tick musicianship, soaring, multi-layered vocal harmonies are a hallmark of Zac Brown Band. Whether it’s piled on in the choruses or providing stunning song intros as with “Natural Disaster” and “Jump Right In”, ZBB’s harmonizing prowess is truly spine tingling. Thick, gorgeous harmonies highlight two of the album’s stand out tracks. “Day That I Die” is a soul stirring collaboration with acoustic rhythm and blues powerhouse Amos Lee that poignantly underlines why musicians are so in love with what they do. Brown and Lee sound like brothers born of the same muse as they sing, “I believe that I was born with a song inside of me. Never questioned why. I just keep on chasing these melodies.” You really do hope that at the end of their days these two might be found in their homes with a guitar in their hands. Mining similar emotional territory to the band’s 2010 #1 “Colder Weather”, Uncaged‘s second single “Goodbye In Her Eyes” is another heartfelt triumph driven by a hypnotic kick drum and wrapped in lush, mournful harmonies.
An honourable mention goes to the very pleasantly surprising mid-album track, “Overnight”. Co-written by Brown and Nic Cowan, this groovy, soulful departure featuring Trombone Shorty skillfully packages a killer horn line, seductive lyrics and a simple, sing-along refrain into a cool, “Wow, I didn’t know they could sound like that” moment.
There are a couple of cases on Uncaged where the band’s genre gumbo gets overcooked. Animated music video aside, the album’s first single The Wind, is a breakneck-speed, bluegrass snack that comes off a little too cartoonish to sufficiently stick to the ribs. Maybe radio’s ribs more so than the fans’. Co-written by Brown, Durrette and Levi Lowrey, The Wind is the band’s first major label single that didn’t crack the top ten in the U.S., although it was a top five hit in Canada. Next, with its reggae-inflected promise that “you’ll sure lose track of your timing…down in the islands.”, “Island Song” would be perfectly suitable as any Caribbean all-inclusive resort chain’s ad jingle. ZBB has scored big before with the wry beach party hits “Knee Deep” and “Toes”, but this one is a swing and a miss.
Over and above these few missteps, Uncaged will undoubtedly continue to build on Zac Brown Band’s already admirable reputation – and not just for making mighty fine music. With his culinary background and all of their killer chops, Zac and his band have become almost as renowned for their delectable backstage “Eat and Greets” and their new Southern Ground Music and Food Festival as they are for their stellar live shows. Who knows? They could go down in history as the only band that could simultaneously satisfy musical and gastronomical hunger with something very tasty.
