[rating=3.00]
The title of Ryan Montbleau Band’s latest, Heavy on the Vine, is as perfectly earnest as the 14 tracks that comprise the album. Montbleau’s songwriting has gradually ripened and matured over the years, hence the playful title. That sort of wordplay is his specialty, and his talent shines more than ever here. Produced by Martin Sexton, the record is swollen with lyrical proverbs and songs written on topics that the everyman (and his best everywoman) can relate to: girls, playing music, love, tall tales, and other earthly subjects are broached with humor and gravity.
Montbleau is unflappably upbeat throughout the album. Even when he wishes for "everyone to love all the words" he sings, there’s not a hint of cynicism in his voice when he admits that "the world’s too big" for such a thing to happen. Quite obviously influenced by Sexton, Montbleau affects a striking, wiry vocal style that is versatile and heartfelt. The unique construction of the band helps maximize the impact of Montbleau’s paeans to humanity, with emotive viola, nuanced drumming, and sophisticated bass and keys combining to form a sound as unique as his voice.
There’s a deliberate flow to the sequence of the record that mostly works. Over an hour of music, listeners will endure a multitude of stylistic shifts, not all of them as successful as others. While this restlessness showcases the abilities of the band, the genre-hopping can be disorienting for listeners that aren’t used to such all-inclusive aesthetics. Bluegrass, folk, psuedo-gospel and Americana sit next to soul, funk, jazz, and rock with varying results. The brief foray into reggae, "Songbird," is the least enjoyable, a mere caricature of the form.
Heavy on the Vine’s appeal isn’t nearly as broad as the palette of musical styles featured on the album. By the same token, there are a lot of reasons to like it. Fans of soulful white-boy pop looking for more songs to sing in the car will likely swoon, while those with edgier tastes will want to look elsewhere. The band’s wide-open approach means that the album is equally wide-open to interpretation, and reactions will largely depend on the mindset of the listener.
