Skeletons

As a title, Skeletons suggests a bare-bones album, but thats hardly what Brothers Osborne deliver here. Now on their third album, the duo feel comfortable in their skin, which means theyre happy to ratchet up both the rock and disco without losing their down-home identity. While blending all these different sounds is a delicate balancing act, Brothers Osborne make it sound easy, blurring the distinctions between styles within the songs themselves. This dexterity is pushed into the forefront on the records opening cut, Lighten Up, an ambling slice of futuristic country-funk that carves out space for an arena-rock guitar solo, setting the stage for the glittery throb of All Night. The brothers can also rev it up, as on the breakneck instrumental Muskrat Greene, and they settle into an updated Haggard-esque groove with Back on the Bottle, but theyre smart enough to slow things down on occasion, letting High Note glide by on its gentle melody. Its varied but subtle, tied together by the bands laid-back yet idiosyncratic charm. Maybe its true that Brothers Osborne arent quite for everyone, an admission they shrug off early on the album, but the great thing about Skeletons is how it sounds like theyre appealing to wide quadrants of rock, pop, country, and Americana audiences without sounding like anything but themselves. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine