Atta Boy Stays Grounded in New Album ‘Silt’
The sometimes Los Angeles-based quartet Atta Boy have released their fourth studio album, Silt. The record is a nine track cohesive step in an entirely different direction for the indie-folk group, with experimental guitars and mature lyrics that flow between a state of yearning and contemplation. The group met in middle school, initially bonding over general musical interest, swapping albums with one another and then grew into a polished indie band of young adults that have displayed their growth together throughout their discography. Vocalist Eden Brolin muses steadily along distorted guitars (Freddy Reish) creating a fuzzy and spaced out ambiance. The album is a grounded journey sonically and lyrically, taking listeners through its ups and downs and settles delicately back into its roots.
The opening track is dark and brash, kicking a new door open. A slow and dark electric guitar strum sets off the beginning of “Scratch,” and immediately accompanies layered vocals that leads us to a musical burst, where the drums (Lewis Pullman) pick up from their half tempo and the guitar begins to wind and spiral into an angsty introduction to the record. The sound of the track blends seamlessly with the lyrics that echo alongside the weighted distortion, with Brolin singing “It's like a fog that swallows you til you’re fed up.”
The albums full-bodied indie rock tones don’t let up yet, however with tracks like “1st Street Bridge” and third lead single “Full Cloud” the growing pains are made heard, with bold guitars and drums that have moved from its half-tempo jazz-inspired snare to picking up speed and taking the wheel. As we wind down the road of “Pale Blue Sky”, a dreamy and Cranberries-esque meditation of feeling lost in potential with Brolin singing “Pale blue sky, pale blue plaster / I only see the dark of night” and “I look like a doll, but with not a place to go.”
The dirt that the first four tracks have kicked up begins to settle on title track “Silt” where Atta Boy slightly leans back into their folk inspirations, still amplifying the nostalgic 90s guitar that is now working alongside a subtle twang. The metaphorical dust that clouded the beginning of the record finds itself searching for answers and begins to clear and highlight mature lyrics that still use the Earth to find answers.
Lead single and standout track “Haven’t Yet” works as the thesis of the entire album, standing between high emotions and the ugly truth of growing up. Utilizing both graphic imagery and metaphor, Brolin muses on the end of a codependent relationship singing, “Ruminating on growth / While it turns to a mold that’s impossible to slow / As you look at me now I wish you’d say / I haven’t yet come home to you / I haven’t yet come home to you” and concluding the track with “So it’s patiently waiting / In a tree stand of love for the next right move / I’m trying, my hands full of white flowers I hope to say / I can’t wait to come home to you / I can’t wait to come home to you.”
The conclusion comes together as an amalgamation of the narrative world that Silt has carefully grown. Sonically, it takes elements from everything we’ve heard from the tension and distortion to the subdued horns and keys that work in tandem with an acoustic guitar. At just over 30 minutes, Atta Boy sifts through the confusion and while finding some clarity, doesn’t necessarily come to a concrete answer. The dirt still lingers, the mold and the moss continue to grow. Still, there’s comfort in knowing that we can return to where we come from.
