Album Review – American Aquarium’s “New Ways To Lose”

Alt-country (#564) on the Country DDS.

Here’s to those who do things the hard way on purpose, who sidestep the shortcuts even when they’re splayed out right there in front of them, that thrust themselves into the hardest jobs in pursuit of dwindling prospects in dying industries simply because someone still has to shoulder that burden. Here’s to doing things with a dogged, stubborn determination simply because others believe they can’t be done. This new album from North Carolina’s American Aquarium is for you.

Some songs and albums pass over you like a cool, calming breeze, or confer a simple, easy joy in music that distract you from everyday anxieties and troubles. That’s not the experience of New Ways To Lose. It comes at you like a closed fist, threatening to leave a bruise. But it’s that bare knuckle delivery that makes the music and the message so potent, toughening up the skin and resolve of its audience for life’s real world challenges. If you need a rallying cry, this is your poison. Indulging in this album is like chugging a quart of motor oil for your weary soul.

Songwriter and frontman BJ Barhamn opens the album making the audience ponder a town so destitute and upside down, even the Dollar General is shutting down. This isn’t an album to ferry you away from life’s troubles. It’s here to spit and snarl in your face, and speak to the true life trials and tribulations so many are facing in the late stage American empire.

BJ Barham gets his fair share of criticism for being political in some of his songs and online presence. He doesn’t wilt from that reputation on New Ways To Lose whatsoever. But perhaps his words have never been more prescient and universal, irrespective of one’s political affiliations. “The worst trick ever played was taking our voice, and giving us two sides in the illusion of choice,” he sings on the opening song, giving few if anyone anything to argue with. “It ain’t left vs. right, it’s bottom vs. top. Until we figure it out this ain’t gonna stop.”

Later in the album on the lead single “History Repeats Itself,” Barham again perfectly encapsulates a pretty common grievance by growling, “Woke up today and they’re tearing down another thing I love about this town. Little men in ill-fitting suits, making the decisions for me and you. Tall and skinny, cheap and fast. Who gives a damn how long they’ll last? Get the money, get out of town. Be long gone before it all falls down.”

BJ Barham is never short of things to bark about, but that doesn’t mean there are some more meaningful moments for the album to capture, whether it’s the nostalgic sense of freedom from rolling the windows down instead of relying on A/C in the song “4X60,” or reminiscing about his dog in “Favorite Hello.” Frankly though, these are all outclassed by the reassuring passages of “Out There in the Dark” that will be taken as soul medicine for those who need to hear it, and be accused by some as being the best song on New Ways To Lose.

The album does have a couple of more unexceptional moments. “Whatever Helps You Sleep At Night” is fine as a classic rock-style song, but struggles to lend to the deeper themes of the record. Producer Shooter Jennings adds some layers of noise to try and make the final song “Bad Habits” a bit more interesting, but it might end up just making it even more forgettable. You also wonder about the chimey melody of “Favorite Hello,” which takes you out of the more rustic mood of the rest of the record. Another accusation you might hear is that this album at times just sounds a little too close to Springsteen, not limited to the tail end of the “Dollar General” chorus.

But just when you’re ready to accuse the second half of the album of being weaker than the first—and a song like “Just Like You” being a little to obvious with the way it looks to stir emotions—BJ Barham delivers the line “Her little fingers trace the divots of her last name carved in stone,” and it’s hard to not lose it. Barham knows how to push those emotional buttons better than most, and makes sure to deliver those moments throughout this album.

Whatever weaker moments New Ways To Lose might have, the strong moments are so strong, it elevates the album to an elite status. Great albums rise to meet the moment and speak to it resolutely, and with authority. Never losing touch with the heavy emotions and hard choices so many of the people in his own audience are weighted down and faced with, BJ Barham and American Aquarium deliver an impassioned, propulsive, and potent experience to those unafraid to lose in life, and would rather do so than win the easy way.

8.4/10

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Stream New Ways To Lose, Purchase from American Aquarium