Hello, everyone! It’s time for another album review, as I’m reviewing the newest Brothers in Farms album, Book V: Picture Perfect.

This year, I’ve been reviewing more really obscure music than I did last year. And that’s probably no surprise considering the fact that I’m reviewing more music in general this year, but still, as much as I like sharing my opinions on the music that lots of people are talking about, I also want to review music from some artists who aren’t getting as much attention.

A lot of the really obscure albums I’ve been reviewing are albums I just randomly came across online when looking for albums to review, but this one is different. This is the second album I’ve ever reviewed by anyone I know personally, the first being Spade’s Title the Document a little less than a year ago, and interestingly enough, Steve Wright (a member of the duo Spade) used to be a member of Brothers in Farms. And I also know some of their current members.

So, what made me decide I wanted to listen to and review this album? Well, honestly, I didn’t know much about Brothers in Farms until a few months ago. But this summer I saw them perform live, and they were incredible! The band seemed totally locked in musically with great chemistry, the lyrics seemed really interesting from what I heard of them, and Chris Hergesheimer has a very recognizable personality behind the mic which I think fits the band really well!

So, I looked up Brothers in Farms online after that performance, and I found out they had a new album. And yes, I know some bands sound way better live than on record and vice versa, but I can’t deny that I was still really excited to hear this album!

Now, before I talk about my feelings on the album, I do want to mention the elephant in the room. Because there is a part of me that feels kind of awkward reviewing an album by a band with some members whom I know personally, and there’s a very real chance that the band ends up seeing this review. And as much as I would love to give every album by anyone I know personally a super positive review, at the end of the day I’d rather just be honest about how I feel, and review it like I would review any other album.

So, just a reminder that everything I say here is just how I personally feel. I mean, that can be said about any of my reviews, but I want to make that especially clear here considering the band might actually see this. 

And speaking of which, to the band members and anyone else who helped make this album, if you end up reading this review, I hope you don’t take any of this personally. I want you to be proud of the music you’ve made regardless of whether or not I personally like the music.

So, now it’s time for me to talk about the album itself … so, first of all, do I like the album?

The answer is yes, I do like the album. But with that being said, it’s not really clicking for me as much as I thought it would, and with the exception of a couple individual songs I don’t think it’s going to have a lot of replay value for me.

It’s worth mentioning that I haven’t yet listened to any other Brothers in Farms albums (I do plan to listen to them sometime soon, though), but based on this album and that live performance I saw, they seem like one of those bands who’s probably much better live than on record. And obviously whether they’re ‘better’ live or on record is subjective, but I think you get the point.

So, I’m going to try to explain why this album didn’t fully click for me, and I also want to explain why I still think it’s pretty good. I will have some positive things to say, but right off the bat I’m going to mention one big thing that holds this album back for me, and that’s a lot of the production—not all of the production, as there are some moments where the production gives this album more punch and it really works, but often I feel like the album doesn’t have the same firepower that their live performance did, and a lot of that is due to quite a few elements sounding underpowered here, like how the bass is mixed really quietly in “Skeletons”, and there’s also “Half Life” which sounds quite compressed, which I don’t think really fits for a song like this one trying to be so huge, anthemic, and optimistic.

I feel like a lot of these songs aren’t as anthemic as they could have been, even though there are elements I like here. “Be Cool” is the biggest example of that for me, as it doesn’t have the firepower in the production or instrumentation to really click for me, but there are other examples, too, such as “Fuego” which does feature a good groove, but the snare sounds way quieter than I would have liked.

But production aside, what do I think of the instrumentals here? Well, it’s a mixed bag for me. There are moments that I like, and there are some nice details—for example, I like a lot of the accordion on here. And also, the band does sound pretty locked in musically. But the compositions often don’t really do much for me—and yes, there are exceptions; I already mentioned the groove of “Fuego”, and I like the mostly instrumental closing track, “Bells”. But as a whole album, the instrumentals themselves can get kind of boring, with songs like “Overdrive” and “Lose Control” which kind of sound to me like a million other songs I’ve heard on alternative radio stations, although the latter of those two songs has a percussion instrument I’m not really familiar with, which … well, it at least makes the song more interesting to me, even though it makes me like the song less.

Again, one element that really improves this album in my opinion is the accordion, which is a really nice addition to “Picture Perfect”, “Skeletons”, and quite a few other songs, especially “The Do Over” in which it blends really well with the drums! Not only does the accordion usually sound really good in the mix, but it adds a lot of good melodies to the album!

And speaking of melodies … well, as much as there are some points where the melodies don’t really feel interesting to me at all—or worse, where the melodies are actively annoying—I do mostly like the melodies here, in both the vocals and instrumentation. I really like that keyboard solo toward the end of “Fuego”, and the way the instrumental melodies combine together in “Bells”. And there are some vocal melodies that I really like, such as in “Picture Perfect” and “Fuego” … and while we’re on this topic, “Skeletons” is another song which has some really good vocal melodies, but something is holding me back from liking it more, and I’m not entirely sure what. I mean, there’s the howl right after Chris says ‘howl at the moon,’ which just feels distracting and annoying to me, but even outside of that something just isn’t quite clicking for me here, and I can’t quite place it. I mean … maybe it has something to do with the lyrics not really doing much for me, despite the fact that I like the idea of the song lyrically. Yes, we’ve all done things that we hate to admit (or even acknowledge to ourselves), and it’s important to move forward and learn from our mistakes without letting our mistakes take over our lives … but it just doesn’t feel like the topic is discussed all that deeply. And not that it was necessarily supposed to be really deep or anything, but the upbeat, feel-good vibes of the song just don’t really feel all that striking to me personally.

But going back to lyrics … well, what do I think of the lyrics here?

Like with a lot of elements of this album … it’s a mixed bag. And it’s not that there are any super notable low points lyrically, but to me there’s a few really standout moments lyrically and most of it just feels pretty generic to me, like I’ve heard it all a million times before. And I especially hate to say this considering that the band might see this review, but like I often say, lyrics aren’t my strong suit as a reviewer, so I very well could be missing something in the lyrics—and lyrics are subjective and open to interpretation anyway, just like any other element of music.

But like I said, there are some moments here that I do really like lyrically. I like the expression of complicated emotions on “The Do Over”, in which the narrator feels both proud of accomplishments and ashamed of not doing even better, before eventually accepting that there’s no way to redo the past—not the most unique topic for a song, but I really like the way it’s written. And “Billionaire Dick Rockets” is a pretty funny song that also has a statement to make about power and inequality, and I think it’s a standout track toward the end of the album.

But there are also some songs which feature lyrics that I don’t find particularly interesting but still fit the mood of the song. “Half Life”, for example, doesn’t feature super interesting lyrics as far as I can tell, but I think the optimistic, joyful feeling of the track fits with the mood of the song, even though the production holds it back from hitting a lot harder for me. But the biggest example of this for me is the opening track, “Picture Perfect”—I mean, I could understand if someone were to argue it’s just another generic ‘yay! Everything’s great!’ song, and I’m not going to pretend I find the lyrics to be deep or really all that interesting … but the song just feels so joyous that I think the lyrics fit! It’s not the kind of song I would usually like all that much, but this one really clicked for me! It’s a great song, and possibly my favourite on the album!

On the other hand, there’s “Be Cool”, which is by far my least favourite song here—not only is it possibly the only song here in which I don’t like the accordion, but it’s just got the feeling of a faux-upbeat song. I’m not saying that the band was faking it, it’s just got that feeling of one of those songs where ‘everything’s totally awesome’, but I’m having absolutely zero fun listening to it, especially with the production that sounds over-compressed to me.

But still, despite that, I still think Book V: Picture Perfect is a pretty good album. It didn’t blow my mind or anything, and I’ll admit it was a disappointment for me … but still, I’m curious to hear their other albums, and there are enough interesting ideas and moments that I like here for me to give it a 6/10. There’s more here that I like than there is that I dislike, and I’d recommend giving this album a chance, not only to support a smaller band, but also because it’s a pretty good album if you ask me.

But, of course, as always, this is all just how I personally feel. And once again, if the band members are reading this, I hope I didn’t offend anyone. Just because the album didn’t really click for me doesn’t mean I don’t respect it. And at the end of the day, these are just my personal feelings on the album.

I also want to say a big thanks to Chris Hergesheimer for sending me the lyrics to this album!

To anyone reading this, I’m curious to know what you think of the album if you’ve heard it. Again, I hope you take the time to listen to the album, but that’s up to you, of course.

Thanks for reading this review, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Picture Perfect”, “The Do Over”, “Billionaire Dick Rockets”, “Fuego”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Be Cool”