Yahtzee Brown – You Got This
Back in my day, Yahtzee was a popular dice game created 69 years ago & still made. But it’s a cool name for a musician too. Yahtzee Brown doesn’t have a distinctive commanding voice, but he does have a pleasant pop-oriented voice with good stylization. I could compare him to several artists who have been successful with this genre of music & voice but they’re too numerous to mention.
I will say that despite that – Mr. Brown’s music is worth investigating. He doesn’t sugarcoat & he showcases his tunes with tight performances & compelling melodies (“Dad Rock”). But as you can see, even his titles are somewhat juvenile & elementary. But that can be corrected.
Produced & engineered by Emile Millar & Michael Lockwood You Got This (Drops Jan 24/Sparkle Plenty/Deko Entertainment/32:33) are 9 fanciful pieces that make this LP worth a listen. At times Yahtzee’s vocal tone will meander into a Smashing Pumpkins Billy Corgan territory but Yahtzee’s not as quirky as Billy. Brown sings with a more level mixture evident in the winning “I Am Waiting.” This has some nice heavy piano notes, sharp rock swipes, a brief fluent arousing guitar & solid incisive vocal. Excellent song.
Yahtzee’s more country flavor emerges with “I Guess I’m Sorry.” It’s a catchy pop-country entry that has the necessary C&W sweetness without getting sappy & corny. Some have described Mr. Brown’s music as psych-country, but I don’t hear it. Not in abundance, anyway. Yes, he submerges his work in a bit of indie-rock drive, but he’s scuffing through many genres.
What he does admirably is mix them up nicely & reposition them with a definitive style. “Watching Over You” is a cool contemporary 60s Top 40 rock-type number. Think any number of the 60s garage bands as a reference – The Standells (“Rari”), the Easybeats (“Made My Bed”), the Electric Prunes, or even the Strawberry Alarm Clock (“Me & The Township”).
“Sidelines” is a superb ballad. Good lyrics & music with Yahtzee performing it with poignancy & a touch of Wilco muscle. I find some of the effects in the songs distracting. Groups like Pink Floyd & The Beatles can get away with this since their producers & engineers have experience with what works & what doesn’t. A song like “Halloween” is good but lose the special effects.
Yahtzee rests back into a more rootsy traditional folk groove with “8 Weeks.” This adds value to Mr. Brown. On this, his voice takes shape of a folk artist who’s gutsy & has swagger. More songs like this & the word Yahtzee won’t just mean a game.
Highlights – “Dad Rock,” “I Am Waiting,” “I Guess I’m Sorry,” “Watching Over You,” “Sidelines” & “8 Weeks.”
Musicians – Noah Siegel (vocals/guitar), Dancing Eagle (drums/percussion), Emile Millar (keys/guitar/percussion/vocals) & Michael Lockwood (guitar/bass/keys/percussion).
Color image courtesy of Yahtzee Brown PR. CD @ Bandcamp & https://www.dekoentertainment.com/inthesquare/yahtzee-brown
