by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Best known for Happy Diving and Big Bite, it's been the hard-to-find solo projects that Seattle's Matt Berry has released that have stuck with me the most. The type of records where Berry turns down the fuzz and curbs any aggression in favor of twang and cosmic wonder. While those releases (see: Mystic Soul Potion and early The Berries tour tapes) served more as demos and home-recordings, The Berries, his latest project is getting ready to release their debut album, Start All Over Again. Due out October 26th via Help Yourself Records, Berry recorded the record during a gloomy Washington winter, but you'd never know from the heartfelt alt/country and dusty folk songs that sound one part Neil Young and one part Meat Puppets. It's an homage to the "cosmic" era of 60's west coast songwriting, a sound that Berry embraces in earnest.
Album opener and first single "Salvation" is the warm welcome you'd expect from a record that's equal part soul comfort and cynical desperation. There is a loneliness to the Berry's lyrics but his worldview expands beyond personal to a greater beyond, with slow drifting melodies that mosey their way over the outlaw country riffs and easy going fuzz. It's full of spiritual reflection and soft burning hopefulness, a song that looks to move beyond its troubles into a space of peace and sweet sweet front-porch twang.
The Berries' Start All Over Again is out October 26th via Help Yourself Records.