American Aquarium was formed in 2005 and almost 20 years on the band is still going strong, even if the only original member is frontman BJ Barham. Over its career so far, the band has been incredibly prolific and its last album was 2022’s ‘Chicamacomico’. For new record ‘The Fear of Standing Still’, the band has collaborated once again with Shooter Jennings who they worked with on 2020 record ‘Lamentations’. The album arrives ahead of the band’s appearance at The Long Road Festival on 23rd August 2024.
‘The Fear of Standing Still’ is a 10-track collection that continues the band’s trend of refusing to be pigeon-holed. Across the record there are moments of 90s alt-rock, country, Americana and honestly, pretty much everything in-between. The record opens with ‘Crier’ co-penned by Stephen Wilson Jr. and it’s grittier and more in your face than a lot of what we’ve heard before from the band. The track pumps along with plenty of energy as Barham delivers a Jakob Dylan-esque raspy vocal. Musically the song sets the tone for an album that feels like it draws from 90s alt-rock and it’s an engaging beginning.
‘Messy as a Magnolia’, a recent single, continues the 90s vibe as the band delivers a love song but not the kind that makes you feel nice and fluffy inside; this is a warts and all look at just how hard relationships are. It’s that lyrical openness that permeates the entire record with Barham exploring all facets of life and taking a long-hard look at Southern identity. ‘The Curse of Growing Old’ meditates on the inevitability of life coming to an end, while ‘Babies Having Babies’ is both a pro-choice anthem, arriving at just the right time in America’s political climate, and a reflection on becoming a parent without having a clue what you’re doing.
Elsewhere on the record Katie Pruitt features on ‘Southern Roots’, an acoustic-driven track that unpicks the role that identity has in life, ‘The Getting Home’ ups the tempo for a moment of adrenaline-fuelled rock, and title track ‘The Fear of Standing Still’ deals with the worry we all have about where we are in life and what the future holds. Closing track ‘Heads Down, Feet Moving’ is the most Country track on the record, and it whizzes by with a stomping beat and honky tonk-filling instrumentation.
If you’ve stuck with the band for the past near 20 years, then you’re going to enjoy ‘The Fear of Standing Still’. It’s a perfectly solid record from the band and gives them plenty of new material to weave into their live shows. Those who haven’t come across American Aquarium yet may need to give the album a few spins before they get to grips with it. It’s certainly a good starting point before you dive into their deep back catalogue.
Track list: 1. Crier 2. Messy as a Magnolia 3. Cherokee Purples 4. The Getting Home 5. Southern Roots (feat. Katie Pruitt) 6. The Curse of Growing Old 7. The Fear of Standing Still 8. Piece by Piece 9. Babies Having Babies 10. Head Down, Feet Moving Record label: Losing Side Records / Thirty Tigers Release date: 26th July 2024 Buy ‘The Fear of Standing Still’ now
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