The Brian Shapiro Band’s new album release You Me Future Now is a ten song collection featuring a variety of guest artists. The plethora of guests isn’t any indication, however, that Shapiro’s creative powers are on the wane. You Me Future Now is the result of collaboration, in those instances, and the presence of other artists only augments and never overshadows the focus on Shapiro’s musical and artistic sensibilities.
URL: https://brianshapiroband.com/
BANDCAMP: https://brianshapiroband.bandcamp.com/album/you-me-future-now
Los Angeles native Shapiro first assembled the band in 2020 during the pandemic’s height. Philadelphia has bred many fine musical outfits over the last half century and Shapiro carries on that tradition. Adopting the power trio format for his art-rock/post-punk ambitions provides him with an ideal vehicle. The ten songs recorded for this release signal Shapiro’s continued development as a songwriter, musician, vocalist, and bandleader.
“Drip Drip” skirts the boundaries between mania and genius. Followers of Shapiro and his past work will know that it is a band that plays by its own rules. Skeptics, however, will have all doubt removed when they hear the careening enthusiasm driving the opener. You can argue that the bare bones lyric is nonsense, a brief justification to sing, but you can also hang some meaning on it if you like. It’s a rousing opener and tells you straight away that what you hear is what you get.
“Better in TX” shows the band’s versatility. Piano has been a frequently recurring element in Shapiro’s past music but never used like it is here. The country music feel comes through, but it’s experienced through an off-kilter perspective bordering on irony/satire. Attentive listeners though will hear clear storytelling elements in Shapiro’s words, and it helps temper the song’s underlying message. “No Other He” features one of the album’s more dizzying arrangements. The assorted turns, however, never take things too far afield and Shapiro’s writing keeps needed consistency throughout the tune. There isn’t a single passage that contrasts uneasily with any shifts in direction.
Shapiro writes “Are You There, God?” as a letter from Facebook’s head Mark Zuckerberg and rates as the funniest moment on You Me Future Now. The musical arrangement is likewise rates as one of the most distinctive exhibitions of the band’s imagination. Many of the herky jerky qualities prevalent earlier in the collection are present here as well though Shapiro and his bandmates keep the same arranging consistency. “Oh, You Children” unexpectedly delves into blues with a bit more earnestness than you’d expect from Shapiro, and including some choice slide guitar parts helps set this track apart. His voice is another reason to pay specific attention to this late bloomer.
“Hangin’” is one of the more personal and obviously autobiographical moments on You Me Future Now. The lyrics are a self-conscious personal statement about Shapiro’s perspective on life, at this point, and he conveys the song’s message without a hint of irony. It’s startingly straightforward when compared to some of the album’s earlier tracks. Wreathing its message in quasi-classical adornments could succeed or land on its face. Shapiro, however, shows excellent creativity and tinkers with the classical tone enough that it assumes an unexpected character. It’s quite a closer for the Brian Shapiro Band’s You Me Future Now and puts an emphatic exclamation point on the release.
Chadwick Easton