Audio Farm: Big, Big, Big Thief

Few bands making music today have as impeccable a discography as the Brooklyn-based quartet, Big Thief. Starting with their 2016 debut, Masterpiece, they have pumped out a total of four studio records in the past five years, all met with near-universal acclaim. Their music is pure rock and roll, a refreshingly raw mix of the basics: wailing guitars, energetic drums, and a vocalist that gives every song her all. The ingredients are all familiar, but Big Thief is a master chef of rock music, creating songs that feel like nothing you've heard before but are nevertheless inviting to the palate.

Their newest release, a collection of recordings titled Live at the Bunker Studio, is a reminder of their synergistic talent. Recorded in 2019 before their 2020 tour was canceled due to the pandemic, it features a total of six songs spanning their last three albums, 2017's excellent "Capacity", and 2019's stellar twins "Two Hands" and my personal favorite "U.F.O.F." (which was recorded in Woodinville, Washington). Each song demands considerable energy from each bandmate, particularly lead singer Adrianne Lenker, whose voice can sound as ethereal as a lullaby, as laden with emotion as a baby throwing a tantrum, or as violent as someone screaming into a thunderstorm. The unpretentious vocal tension she achieves is remarkable, as each lyric seems truly felt and experienced before leaving her lips.

On highlight, "Forgotten Eyes," she ponders collective pain: Forgotten eyes are the ones which we lose, forgotten hands are the ones which we choose to let go of, but it is no less a bruise, on the collective arm keeping us high and gone.

As the lead songwriter, her lyrics are cryptic, yes, but also rich in visual imagery and deeply compelling, perhaps because of the way she delivers them.

My favorite song in this set, "Cattails," captures the seamless unity of lyrics and instrumentation, as the drums and guitars march alongside the words: I find you there in your country flair, middle of the river in a lawn chair, with your wrinkled hands and your silver hair, leaving here soon and you know where, to where the cattail sways with the lonesome loon, you'll be riding that train in late June.

If you're new to Big Thief, start here, and then tour each of their remarkable albums. You won't regret it.