In Stores Now: I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers

Illustration titled "Increase of Power" from LIFE magazine, January 2, 1950

The Avett Brothers seemed to be on the verge of taking their bluegrass-pop into huge crossover-success territory. Their last album, Emotionalism, hit all the right buttons with all the right people, slowly picking up momentum and buzz a full year after its release in 2007. The time was right to jump to a major label, pick up a big-name producer (Rick Rubin) and put out an album with broad appeal. The Avetts pulled off the first two steps without a hitch, but they may have not quite done the third step right with their new LP I and Love and You. Sure, you'll see lots of references to the Avett Brothers on Facebook, but they're getting surprisingly luke-warm reviews from many legit critics and media outlets. The crossover is happening, but it's nowhere near as explosive as it could/should be. Why?

I'll admit that I love I and Love and You, but I think it's a failure on some levels. I probably love it for being a failure - I'm like that. First, I should say that I think that Rick Rubin's production is a non-factor in this album's degree of success - I and Love and You sounds like an Avett Brothers record, and fans of Emotionalism and the Avetts' earlier albums have little to complain about with the sound of the band here. The bluegrass, country, rock, and pop elements are all still there, as are the banjo, Hammond organ, cello, and acoustic guitar. The sound is right - it's the songs that aren't quite right.

Simply put, I think I and Love and You is weighed down by its concept and a set of songs built around that concept. The liner notes contain a 500-word "mission statement" on the subject of love - that ought to set off warning alarms in your head right there. A good three quarters of I and Love and You is composed of down-tempo songs ruminating on the same subject, starting with the album's opening title track. It's not a bad opener, but it's a slow song followed by five more slow songs (barring this sequence's standout moment, the uptempo break in the middle of "The Perfect Space"). This sequencing may be a reaction to the embarrassingly front-loaded Emotionalism, which started with five of the best songs the Avetts have ever written. But people were drawn to the uptempo bluegrass-pop of "Die Die Die" and "Paranoia in B-flat Minor" on that album for a reason, and I and Love and You seems to deliberately withhold its pop moments.

Those pop moments are there, though, if you have patience. I and Love and You is as back-loaded with fun songs as Emotionalism was front-loaded. "Kick Drum Heart", "Tin Man", and "Slight Figure of Speech" are pure pop - big, stupid, and lovable. They have a bouncy rhythm and enthusiasm that is reminiscent of Charm School-era Bishop Allen - they probably got pushed to the back of the setlist for not being serious enough, and that's too bad. I and Love and You is best when it's not taking itself too seriously - it ends with a five-song run as good as anything on their previous albums. Maybe we can blame Rick Rubin for putting the songs in the wrong order, but I'm guessing the Avetts did this to themselves. A more pop-oriented sequencing would have made I and Love and You the big crossover hit it was set up to be - instead, it's an album for fans, containing hidden gems deep in its bowels and rewarding patience and repeated listens.

"Slight Figure of Speech" by the Avett Brothers