The new American Culture LP is called Hey Brother, It’s Been A While. The innocent and casual nature of the title becomes a punch in the gut once you discover its remarkable back story – the press release almost reads like a movie plot. However, let’s first delve into the music because, even without the context, this album stands on its own merits. Offering a surprising blend of styles, from Britpop to psych, C86 to alt-rock, and sunshine pop to punk, American Culture keeps finding ways to reinvigorate their indie rock on this record. At first listen, Hey Brother, It’s Been A While exudes a sunny disposition, evoking lazy Summer evenings. Underneath the surface, this record is much, much darker.
In short, the main subject of LP is American Culture’s guitarist and singer Michael Stein and the seriously messed up year he had. The band’s founder and co-guitarist/vocalist Chris Adolf explains: “Michael was homeless last year. He was a missing person for three months. We thought he was dead.” What happened? Stein’s drug habit spiraled out of control amid the pandemic. After a failed attempt to get clean he “eventually ended up stranded in Las Vegas, robbed, held hostage, and living in the tunnels beneath the city.” It came as far as Stein resigning to the fact of becoming a permanent homeless junkie. Fortunately, his parents together with Adolf embarked on a relentless search, something Adolf compares to a Coen Brothers movie including negotiating drug dealers. Eventually, a missing persons report yielded succes. Adolf recounts: “When his dad called me and said they’d found him, my first question was ‘dead or alive?’”
Hey Brother, It’s Been A While tells this story from two vantage points, from the missing band member and the band founder trying to locate him. Miraculously, what could have been a tale of loss, transforms into one of survival.. It turned out as an amazing record as well, one that is sonically pleasing and emotionally heavy – read along to the lyric video to standout Survive and you get an idea. LP out now through Convulse Records.