Album Review: All Ashore by Punch Brothers

Scaling back from the expansive horizons of 2015's T-Bone Burnett-produced The Phosphorescent Blues, Punch Brothers may sound intimate on 2018's All Ashore, but they haven't lost their ambition. All Ashore is designed as a song suite exploring the meaning of committed relationships within the social chaos of the 2010s -- a rich and resonant lyrical concept that the group pairs to sweet and sighing strings. While Punch Brothers don't shy away from pushing at the boundaries of string music -- "The Angel of Doubt" contains vocal phrasing that borrows liberally from hip-hop -- they nevertheless sound relaxed and weathered throughout the record, directing attention to the songs themselves instead of the band's instrumental interplay.

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Sometimes bluegrass, and its more contemporary cousins, can become a technical exercise in form, paying less attention to feeling and more to precision. Listening to the Punch Brothers often reminds me of this problem — genuinely beautiful, but a little bit cold. Considering the sheer mastery of their mandolin player Chris Thile and their banjoist, Noam Pikelny, the slippery problem of engagement becomes even more present. They are so good at playing such intricate and delicate work, that it cannot be art for art's sake. All Ashore mostly ….

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If you read the news these days, oh boy: with scandals, setbacks, and Twitter rants invading our feeds at dizzying speeds, at best, it can be a lot to take in. At worst, it can invoke the kind of despair that makes you genuinely question the merit of going outside and talking to people. On "All Ashore," Punch Brothers seem to be feeling a bit overwhelmed, too.

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