A hardy brotherhood they are, the Felice Brothers. Probably the worthiest ambassadors of the folk-rock current I would call \u201cCatskills Gothic\u201d. The fact that they are its sole ambassadors should not diminish their merit. Also, the Felice Brothers are not to be confused with their fellow practitioners of Americana the Pernice Brothers, who hail from Massachusetts. The quartet is composed of siblings Ian and James Felice, the former occupying the guitar and lead singing duties, the latter a multi-instrumentalist and backup singer, as well as musical sister and brother at heart Jesske Hume on bass and Will Lawrence on drums. Two musicians from the band Bright Eyes are guesting, renowned guitarist Mike Mogis on pedal steel as well as trumpet player Nathaniel Walcott, who executes the tasty score we hear on \u201cJazz on the Autobahn\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From Dreams to Dust<\/em>, the group\u2019s eighth opus, was recorded in Harlemville, NY, in a 19th-century church Ian Felice renovated. What slips into the listener\u2019s aural tract are well-oiled folk-rock melodies and rhythms, grade-A Americana with the perfect balance between rugged and delicate. Lyrically, the brothers Felice stand among the best of their generation. Granpa Zimmy makes his inextinguishable influence known, especially on \u201cTo-Do List\u201d and \u201cCelebrity X\u201d, both songs built according to the rules laid out by Dylan on Desolation Row<\/em>. Dylan took his inspiration from Fellini\u2019s Great Circus, while the Felices found theirs in Dylan\u2019s Court of Miracles. Influences are transmitted and transmuting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To alternate between the comic and the tragic, the Felices garnish their lyrics with well-chosen cultural allusions. Thus, on \u201cInferno\u201d, we hear, \u201cWho\u2019s that riding on the banks of the Rio Grande \u2013 It\u2019s Jean-Claude Van Damme,\u201d then, \u201cWho\u2019s that singing in the land of the falling rain \u2013 I think it\u2019s Kurt Cobain.\u201d \u201cWe Shall Live Again\u201d is a song of hope that largely recalls the aforementioned Mr. Zimmerman\u2019s \u201cI Shall Be Released\u201d. Since 2021 isn\u2019t 1968, however, and that today\u2019s hope isn\u2019t what it used to be back then, the Felices covered their song with bittersweet sauce, as shown in the excerpts \u201cRemember Hegel, that beautiful son of a bitch,\u201d \u201cMarcel Proust, you thought he ruled the roost\u201d or my favourite, \u201cFrom Francis of Assisi \u2013 to the fans of AC\/DC \u2013 We shall live again.\u201d On \u201cBe at Rest\u201d, a eulogy as wacky as it is touching, the deceased hero was stuck for two months in a painting by Bruegel the Elder. The painting on the album sleeve is not from the Flemish master, its author is unknown and it is called \u201cWinter Sunday In Norway Maine\u201d. I\u2019d like to be stuck in it for a few hours, listening to From Dreams to Dust<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n