Brandon Green - Brass, Wood & Steel

Brandon Green

Brass, Wood & Steel
self-released; 2017

​3.6 out of 5

By Dom Eagle

Brandon Green was born and raised in the greater Vancouver area, Canada. His history is short, as he has only been preforming for a couple of years in bars, cafes and the sort. Nonetheless, his expertise is undeniable, and it makes me wonder what things he could achieve with even more experience. He’s opened for bands in bars in the Vancouver area, and busked the drive, which is well-known in the heart of Vancouver.

​He’s a blue collar plumber by trade, and he manages to capture the rawness, intimacy and personal aspects of his life in instrumental music, which is something other musicians can only dream of accomplishing. He takes his music very personally, so he was initially hesitant to share it, but here he is: Brandon Green - the man who builds his own guitars and creates his own music.

His latest nine-track release entitled Brass, Wood & Steel most certainly sounds like all those elements combined and displayed themselves in sonic form through Green. The opening track, “Cliffs and Falls” opens with an impressive, fast-paced, frantic, upbeat-yet-vague-and-mysterious acoustic guitar pattern which dances up and down the fretboard. Sounding as if country and folk entered a strange and foreign land of maddening chaos, Green captures a lot of diversity in a very short space of time. This three-minute track had more melodic sound crammed into its runtime than most six-minute tracks.

“Mudflinger’s Waltz” opens with a bluesy, dark, gripping and emotive acoustic guitar pattern. It fluctuates into moments of upbeat, light and airy melodic bliss in the center of the track, but I welcomed the return of the dark, sliding, brutal, hungry guitar riffs towards the climax of the song.

As Green starts to descend further into the depths of chaos, he strums and slides the guitar strings ever more violently, creating a melodic, dark and raw vibe. This element of his music is addictive, and it’s rare that instrumental tunes from indie artists invoke so much emotion in a person. The passion in Green’s work emanates from every string plucked, every slide and every manic moment.

“Crowsnest in summer’” takes a gentler approach. Country-esque, relaxed chords start as the foundation, though they are quickly joined by a lead acoustic arpeggio which is at first jovial and upbeat, but melancholic and sombre for moments here and there. It is this constant fluctuation between different moods and vibes within the space of a single song which perplexes and mesmerizes me. That he can capture so many different emotions within a short track without losing the flow, consistency or overall vibe of the song and album is a wonder to me.

All in all, Brass, Wood & Steel is an impressive album. Nine tracks almost weren’t enough, but I’m definitely keen to see what this talented singer/songwriter comes out with next. Green sounds as if he’s been playing for decades, which makes me curious to know what he’ll sound like when that is the case.

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