Stay In The Country: A Brief Review Of The New Album From The Natvral (Kip Berman Of The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart)

I imagine that this new direction for Kip Berman is going to surprise a lot of people. While The Pains of Being Pure at Heart changed direction over the course of their career, they never made a stylistic leap quite like the one being made here. Tethers, the first record from Berman's new project The Natvral, is fairly stark, entirely heartfelt, and fitfully engaging.

While "Why Don't You Come Out Anymore?" has a slight swagger to it, a Britpop-influenced one to these ears, most of Tethers is more Dylan-esque. "New Moon" is a lyrical, twang-y folk-y number, while "Stay in the Country" lurches forward like a mix of The Band and Faces. Elsewhere, "New Year's Night" works up a considerable head of steam, but it's not quite enough to satisfy entirely. While it would be churlish to knock Berman for not making this sound like his former band, I can say that I liked Tethers more than I loved it. While fine, the style here is just not my bag, so no matter how well Kip does it, it's just not going to grab me like the first TPoBPaH did, you know?

Tethers is out now via Kanine Records.

More details on The Natvral via the official website.

[Photo: Kanine Records]