I Am the Albatross

"Port City," I Am the Albatross

Good rock 'n' roll seems like it should be an easy thing to churn out: Three chords, some yelling, maybe a catchy guitar hook, verse-chorus-verse, done. Of course, it isn't. Good rock, like all good music, should have something to say, both lyrically and musically, and "Port City," by the Austin trio I Am the Albatross, has something to say.

What I hear in "Port City" is that life is full of beauty and love that you only see in moments of grace. You may hear something else, because I Am the Albatross isn't overly heavy-handed with its lyrics, so give it a listen and find out for yourself. -Peter Weber, senior editor - The Week

Michael Toland

1) The Happen-Ins, Glamour Shots (Fuzz Recordings)

2) Gary Clark Jr., The Story of Sonny Boy Slim (Warner Bros.)

3) Obscured by Echoes, Avidonia Pt. 1: The Escape

4) Grupo Fantasma, Problemas (Blue Corn)

5) The Grassy Knoll, Electric Verdeland Vol. 1 (Electric Verde)

6) Eve Monsees & the Exiles, You Know She Did (Serpent)

7) Mala Suerte, Rituals of Self-Destruction (Illwill)

8) City of Ships, Ultraluminal (Translation Loss)

9) Knest, Honorary Bachelors of Arts (Self Sabotage)

10) I Am the Albatross, Lonesome Son (Rail Rider) - The Austin Chronicle

With a name like I Am the Albatross, this Austin trio might be mistaken for overeducated wiseasses out to carve a new notch on the indie rock bedpost. Fortunately, that's not the case on Lonesome Son. For one, leader Jesse Berkowitz and his wingmen rock too hard, pulling riffs from the heavy end of the alt.country spectrum and the harmonious side of Seventies hard rock. Berkowitz also seems less interested in clever irony than in serious expression. The singer/guitarist makes no secret of his ambivalence over the changes his town has been through in the past decade. Angst over the evolving Austin experience powers the rollicking "Port City" and roaring "Garden" like the Holy Spirit driving a Baptist preacher. IATA occasionally overreaches (the overlong "World of Money"), but when it flies, as on "The Vine," the threesome proves its ability to rock its furrowed brow right into the ground. - The Austin Chronicle

Sometimes menacing, at other instances oddly profound, the always loud outlaw rock and rollers, I Am the Albatross’, new album ‘Lonesome Son’ is nasty guitar-lick laden rock played with focused reckless abandon. This latest offering basically grabs you by the throat then pours a welcome shot of bold Americana rock down it. The Austin quartet’s music is essentially Nick Caves and The Bad Seeds bulked up on PED’s with added injections of punk and psychedelic growth hormone for good measure. If Leonard Cohen was a hipster millennial, this would be the soundtrack he played during an epic cross-country getaway to the hinterland of Canada after a bank robbery. Any album that leaves you wanting more is always a winner in my book which is the case with this playlist worthy album. - The Deli

I Am the Albatross
Lonesome Son

Lonesome Son provides a relentless barrage of gritty blues and folk-infused rock ‘n’ roll, with powerful, wailing solos and pummeling drums. Delving into Southern mysticism and channeling Tom Waits (“Strange Island”), it’s less albatross and more cottonmouth lurking in the muck and leaves; tread carefully. - Austin Monthly

There’s no shortage of great music being made in Texas, by Texans: from slide guitars to 808s, from accordians to distortion pedals, the tapestry of Texas includes the traditions of George Strait, Pantera, UGK, At the Drive-In, and Freddy Fender. Today’s burgeoning artists are tomorrow’s legends, and on the Daily Post’s song premieres, artists explain why their latest tracks are worthy of your time and attention.

This week, Austin’s folk-punk trio I Am The Albatross bring us “The Weed,” the newest song from their album, Lonesome Son, out Friday. Singer and guitarist Jesse Berkowitz and drummer Marc Henry answer our questionnaire below.

Can you walk us through the songwriting process on this song?

Jesse Berkowitz: Some people like things natural and simple, they don’t mind if their yards or their neighbors’ yards are overgrown. This song was born from that thought. It was written mostly while walking around Austin, looking at the many different ways people like to live.

Constant change and growth is inevitable, but it can be hard on people who like things fine the way they are. This song is all based around that idea.

Marc Henry: Most times Jesse will hammer out his guitar parts and lyrics himself before bringing the song to the rest of us, at which point we’ll write parts around what he’s got down already, expand a bit, and work together on some arranging and rearranging. Until it feels just right.

When did you know that this song was finished?

Marc Henry: I suppose it wasn’t finished until we recorded it. A song is hardly ever finished, it’s live form is changing from the minute you call it “done” to the minute you stop playing it all together, if that day ever comes.

Jesse Berkowitz: Eventually it was clear that the story was fully told, and there was nowhere left to go without turning back. Had to move forward into the next story, the next song. Yeah, a song is probably never really done but you have to let it out into the world at some point, you have to let it go.

Is this the best song you’ve ever written?

Marc Henry: Of course it is! Each new song feels like “the best work we’ve ever done”… Until we start writing the next record, which can be a great way to go about writing, constantly trying to one-up ourselves and be better than everyone else.

Jesse Berkowitz: I think since the recording of this album we’ve already started to write better songs. So, no.

What do you think people should be doing while they listen to this song?

Jesse Berkowitz: Walking alone, out to the edge of town.

Marc Henry: Driving through West Texas, using the song — and the album — as the soundtrack for the desert. Jesse grew up in Silver City, New Mexico, a town sandwiched between the desert and the Rockies. I think a lot of our music reflects that balance of desolate but beautiful landscape. Windows down, just hitting the open road, I think Lonesome Son fits the moment.

If you had to compare this song to a food, what food would that be?

Marc Henry: A smoked brisket. All the intense flavors and the extensive time and hard work it takes to smoke a solid brisket, it’s right in line with a hard working band, and all the subtle intricacies that go into a song like “The Weed.” - Texas Monthly

The Austin music census released last week confirmed the gathering clouds on the horizon: our local music industry is booming, but often at the expense of the musicians themselves. High rent, declining music sales, and low-paying local shows are some of the main culprits. It’s never easy being a musician to begin with, but as Austin changes, it’s getting progressively harder.

It’s only fitting that this creeping unease would pop up in some local music. I Am The Albatross formed a few years ago as trio, debuting last year with a well-received EP. Lonesome Son–out August 7–takes a hard look at Austin’s realities. The band’s ragged rock is triumphant more than despondent, but the themes are written in Jesse Berkowitz’s lyrics. Though “Port City” tackles the I-10 corridor, the parallels are pretty apparent. “Maybe it’s the long nights, maybe it’s the whiskey,” he sings, “fear of the future or the weight of history / Maybe I just spent too much time alone.” It’s the sound of a cautionary tale: a once-vibrant community that’s crashed back to earth.
–Art Levy - KUTX

You could call “Strugglin’” from I am the Albatross‘ forthcoming self-titled EP efficient not necessarily because it sounds so clean or its structure comes across so clearly. Certainly the hook is right there and plenty sharp, but even more than that, “Strugglin’” shows its down-to-business mentality in conveying such a wide swath of influence, moving in under five minutes’ time from Hank Williams-style country melancholy to all-out gypsy punk, resulting in a kind of spaghetti western speed rock that winds up held together even as it seems intent on tearing itself apart by an underlying quality of songwriting from the Austin-based trio of guitarist/vocalist Jesse Berkowitz, bassist/vocalist Giuseppe Ponti and drummer Marc Henry.

It’s not the kind of thing you hear every day around here, or anywhere else for that matter, and that ultimately was what appealed to me about the track, which as the title would indicate takes on hard times, drinking in motel rooms and the hope of their actually being another side. And not only does the song establish this wide stylistic range, but it builds smoothly from one end to the other, and when it’s at its tensest and most unbridled, the band shift into a waltz before cutting back to a solo and the last verses and chorus, even then keeping hold of the song which by then is full throttle with its fire and brimstone. I am the Albatross will self-release their debut EP on March 4. - The Obelisk

Jesse Berkowitz fronts Austin TX based darkened country band, I Am The Albatross. This black americana three piece is gonna be storming The Wandering Goat on 10/25 and we thought we’d get the skinny on what makes I Am The Albatross such a force to be reckoned with.

Your debut EP tows the line between 70′s rock and roll and country. Is that also where your personal roots lie?

I can’t speak for the other guys, but for me, yeah. At least to a certain extent. Growing up, when I started writing music I was very influenced by bands like Kyuss, Clutch, and Corrosion of Conformity. Bands that took a heavy ’70′s, Black Sabbath inspired sound and really went to unique and unusual places with it. Those bands also had some punk and hardcore influences, and I was and still am a huge metal fan too. I was also very obsessed as a little kid with rock bands like the Who and Aerosmith.

On the other side of all that though, I had a lot of exposure to American folk music as a kid, mainly from my parents record collection. They lived in New York at the height of the whole folk revival thing in the ’60′s, and I grew up being exposed to Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Pete Seeger, Flatt & Scruggs…Stuff like that and all the older recordings that inspired those guys, like Robert Johnson and the Carter Family. We lived in Virginia when I was young and my parents took me to a lot of folk and bluegrass festivals there, so the sound of that music was very familiar to me from an early age. I guess my influence is more folk and old-time oriented than country.

Basically, I’ve always written a lot of heavy stuff and played in punk and metal bands, and at the same time written folky, acoustic, lyric-based things and performed solo. This band is sort of an attempt to bridge that gap.

Darkened country/americana music can be fickle. Bands like Murder By Death, or O’death have popped up and moved quickly on to more traditional sounding music, while, Wovenhand seems to have comfortably set up camp to stay. Does I Am The Albatross feel firmly rooted, or are you guys musically nomadic?

Well, I think we’ve already progressed the sound of the band quite a bit since the release of the EP. We’re always interested in moving forward and writing new stuff. That being said, I don’t think we’ll ever make anything ‘traditional’ sounding. We just finished recording a full length album, and it’s definitely more of a ‘rock’ record than the EP…there’s a lot more guitar stuff going and it’s much more complex, both lyrically and musically. I don’t think there’s much on there that could be referred to as ‘country.’ I think with this new album it’s going to pretty difficult to label us. I just think of us now as rock band, in the same sense that The Who are a rock band. I think when people see us live they understand that. Not that I’m comparing us to the Who!

But there are still some pretty distinct references to American folk music in our style, and I think that will always be represented in my way of singing and my approach to lyrics.

You’re about to pull a stretch of 20 dates. Is this your first tour of this magnitude?

Yeah. We’ve done a few two-week things here and there, but this is our longest run so far with this band.

Initially I stumbled across you guys by googling noise-rock band An Albatross. Has anyone contacted you for booking thinking you were them? Has there been any confusion?

I’m aware of them only through googling my own band! Still haven’t listened to them yet though. To my knowledge, no one has mistaken us for them.

People will often ask about your “desert album” record. We don’t care about that. However, what record would drive you to off yourself if you were doomed to listen to it for the rest of your days?

Um…whatever radio station they play over the speakers at supermarkets and Targets and Goodwills always gives me a suicidal urge. So whatever that stuff is, just gimme a mix of that and it’ll do the trick.

The haunting cover piece for your record is the work of Rex Slack, and not originally created for your record, but, I feel, rather fitting. Were you fans of Slack’s work previously? How did the decision to use his piece come about?

Ah, really glad you asked about that! For those who don’t know, Rex Slack is a Virginia-based American artist, and his work includes paintings, sculptures, miniature models and all kinds of other constructions. A lot of his stuff depicts scenes of small town, country life, which is his heritage.

Rex is one my favorite artists in the world and I’ve know him personally pretty much my whole life! As a kid I lived in Virginia, and Rex’s son’s are childhood friends of mine. Their mom is a great painter as well, Laurie Marshall. I spent tons of time in the Slack household growing up….they lived in a great, 100 year old house in Rappahannock county Virginia, and Rex’s art was always around. Rex is like family to me and I feel a very personal connection to his art.

When I started playing in bands, I always knew his paintings would be perfect as album covers . I Am the Albatross is really the first band that I’ve played with though whose music genuinely seems to fit the mood of Rex Slack’s art. It felt like a pretty natural choice for us to use this image on the cover. Hopefully we’ll get to use more of his stuff on future projects.

More than one of his pieces concern images of houses burning down. In the Virginia countryside, there are a lot of very old, wooden farm houses, and it’s not too uncommon for one to catch on fire. I remember seeing it happen once. It’s kind of a perfect symbol of irreparable loss, and the bonds of community and family.

Rex Slack is an incredible and often overlooked artist, everyone should check out his work. - Exiled in Eugene

No matter how many times I try and remember it, I will never be able to tell you with 100% confidence whether or not this band is called "I Am The Albatross" (It really is) ala I Am The Avalanche or "I Am An Albatross" ala the band simply known as An Albatross. I guess I could just think of it as being the same as I Am The Avalanche because they both abbreviate to "IATA" but then when I say it out loud it doesn't seem right. But, hey, what you call a band doesn't matter as much as what the music sounds like, right Diarrhea Planet?

As simplistic as their music might sound on the surface there are many layers in play here and that involves a lot of working gears behind the scenes that you may or may not hear as easily. At the start, I think of this as having that indie-pop-rock quality to it which brings out immediate (and easy) references to Death Cab For Cutie and Interpol. But it isn't quite as *pop* as those two artists and reminds me more of something like Time Spent Driving or Eleventeen. Now, Time Spent Driving and Eleventeen are two bands I picked up when their albums came out and never let go of but I'm not entirely certain what happened to them and who will still be left to get the comparison.

At the same time, there are rock elements coming out which cross between the likes of Tom Petty, Tom Waits and even the band Live. This is just that feel good type of rocking that not enough bands do because they want to have some sort of gimmick and it's one of those rare instances where the people just let the instruments do the talking for them. It's totally about the rock and, yes, it is even fair to say that I Am The Albatross can channel as much of the classic rock influence as it does the modern influence and that is something which seems nearly impossible to do.

Words like "impossible" are ones that I Am The Albatross doesn't seem to subscribe to musically though. Through all of these other rock n roll sounds come something that sounds like the band is wandering. There is a level of "driving" music that I enjoy and can easily be related back to Steppenwolf and of course the song by Golden Earring about driving all night with your hands wet on the wheel, but this is different. This isn't getting from Point A to Point B, but rather driving in the sense that it takes you on the entire journey, across the entire country and maybe even outside of a singular country as well.

If you think bands like I Am The Albatross come along every day you're mistaken. They come along more like once in a lifetime and I for one am glad that this band which could have easily come out twenty or thirty years ago- or that many years into the future just the same- is here right now for my listening pleasure. - Raised by Gypsies

I am the Albatross is a hard act to peg, their sound a mixture of psych-rock swells and southern rock stomp, with their ghostly epic “Nashville” serving as a glimpse into a beautifully alien world. While the dominant sound in Austin folk these days seems to be a take on the gentle bearded troubadours that defined Seattle more than half a decade ago, I am the Albatross’ “Nashville” is haunting and alien, full of menace and fire and a funeral march rhythm. Jesse Berkowitz’s voice is a jagged confession, his guitar a mixture of bayonet stabs and cannon fire chords barely contained by Marc Henry’s sparse, well-arranged drums. For the bulk of its more than five minute runtime, “Nashville” sounds like a building in danger of collapsing, which makes the climax that arrives in its last quarter all the more devastating, a dynamite blast of fills and leads. This is doomsday folk rock, southern-style, and no army of delicate beardos could ever stand a chance against it.

- Nick Hanover - ovrld

I Am The Albatross' most recent and self-titled album is quite a successful interpretation of gypsey/blues rock; a sound that describes the south well, paying homage with a tasteful reimagination. The songs all contain a surly and hung-over haze, personified perfectly in "Strugglin": "Well, it's whiskey in the morning/Gin and tonic at noon/Pulling down the blinds in a motel room." -Rebecca Blandon - The Deli Magazine

I Am The Albatross are putting out their debut EP soon, we’ve heard ‘Strugglin’ from it… and it’s superb. Predominantly a garage rock Americana, the lyrics are cynical and dark, with phrases like “It’s whiskey in the morning, gin and tonic at noon…” imbued with far more than booze swilling swagger: the whole thing is a peyote fuelled American gothic. You can but it March 4th, and this Austin trio are exciting us. - Supajam

“Like many people of my generation, my introduction to vinyl was through my parents’ dusty record collection. They had what seemed like hundreds of LPs in boxes, on shelves, and in various piles throughout the house where I grew up.”

“Even as a five-year old, I was allowed to use the record player myself and was free to pick out and play whatever I liked. Records in our house were not forbidden “adults only” objects; they were meant to be played with and thoroughly used. - The Vinyl District

Austin trio I Am the Albatross creates a thick, dark, chilly atmosphere on its self-titled EP that will cling to you and color your mood even after the music stops. Lead vocalist and guitarist Jesse Berkowitz told the review website FlashWounds.com that his music is heavily influenced by his childhood—half spent in the Appalachian woods, half spent in deserts of New Mexico. This insider tidbit shines considerable light on the band's gothic, almost eerie sound, which contains a swirling mix of folk, Americana, psychedelic, punk, noise and good old rock influences.


Maybe it's the season, but the five tracks on I Am the Albatross are just plain spooky. While each song leans toward a different set of genres and subgenres, they all conjure up mystical images of isolation and rural life: Ancient prophets warning of a snake that will swallow the universe, a man drinking whiskey in a cheap motel room while contemplating evil, a black crow following you through the woods. Paired with vintage-sounding guitar riffs and Berkowitz's muffled and distorted voice, it's enough for you to turn on some lights in the house and cancel your plans for a night hike. But while the EP might be too scary and foreboding to listen to at the gym or at a (non-Halloween) party, the band's heavily layered sounds and weird, vibrant lyrics are certainly worth checking out. - Missoula Independant

Wer sich zwischen alle Stühle setzt, landet meistens auf dem Hosenboden. Der Trick ist also, sich möglichst langsam hinzusetzen, damit der Aufprall nicht so schmerzhaft ist. I Am The Albatross bekommen das nicht nur bestens hin, sondern schaffen es auch gekonnt, die Lücke in einer ziemlich eng stehenden Sitzgarnitur zu finden. Zwischen Country, Indie, Folk und Garage ist bekanntlich nicht allzu viel Platz. Dass die Band trotzdem ziemlich einzigartig klingt, ist also durchaus als Kompliment zu verstehen.

Am ehesten drängt sich bei dem Dreier aus Texas noch der Vergleich mit Modest Mouse auf. Sänger Jesse Berkowitz klingt mit seinem lakonischen Gemurmel oft wie die abgehangene Version von Isaac Brock. Modest Mouse haben ja ab und an auch einen leichten Hang zu folkigen Klängen. Bei I Am The Albatross ist das die Regel. Aber genug der Vergleiche, denn abseits von den offensichtlichen Referenzen hat die Band mehr als nur ein paar eigene Akzente zu bieten, um ein mit knapp 50 Minuten verhältnismäßig langes Album lückenlos zu füllen.

Die neun Songs nehmen sich teilweise fast sieben Minuten Zeit, um alle Ideen ausführlich auszuformulieren. Der Opener "Blood song" ist ein Musterbeispiel für einen langsamen, aber effektiven Songaufbau. Von den intimen Zupfakkorden zu Beginn über den abgedämpften Rhythmus, der einen Ausbruch suggeriert, aber nie ganz dort ankommt, bis hin zum sich langsam steigernden Refrain, der wieder in der abgedämpften Bridge vom Anfang mündet, spielt die Band leichtfüßig mit der Erwartungshaltung an klassische Rockmusik. "Port city" geht es danach ein bisschen geordneter an, überzeugt aber mit einem klasse rumpelnde Riff und einer wunderbar beschwingten Strophe.

Im Zentrum steht das schwer stampfende "Garden", das mit Hammond-Orgel und dem stark angezerrten Bass anfangs und zwischendurch immer wieder die Hardrock-Keule auspackt. Was zunächst befremdlich wirkt, löst sich zum Ende hin in eine bluesige Offenbarung auf und leitet perfekt über in die zweite, dunklere und noch bessere Hälfte von "Lonesome son". Die kratzende und keifende Polka "Strange island" und das nur oberflächlich zuckrige "Hell America" sind spät verstecke Highlights einer Platte, die schon ziemlich gut anfängt und am Ende auch keine Angst hat, sich mit Schmackes rückwarts fallen zu lassen.

(Maik Maerten) - Platten Tests.de

Growing up in Austin, there’s been two things that have been a constant in the music scene: punk rock and country. Listening to this new single from I Am the Albatross combines both those elements, making them one of the more diverse Austin acts of the moment. This track starts off with a steady atmospheric folk element, but soon jumps into a full-steam-ahead barroom rocker, before pausing for a bit of a breather near the end of the song. It’s definitely a dynamic approach, and one that should make the group’s Austin shows worthy of your attendance. - Austin Town Hall

From Austin, TX, and in the tradition of ‘Keeping Austin Weird’, I Am The Albatross combines the backwoods mysticism of old-time American folk songs with the savage spirit of rock, punk and psychedelic noise. The band’s brand of storytelling takes listeners through smoky terrain where tranquil rivers bleed out onto the shores of scorching deserts. It’s a stirring concoction of music that defines an alternate America with a strange dream landscape, forever out of place. - Insomnia Radio/Stuart Morrison/DailyDose

The song begins as a stumbling, lost soul’s barroom lament before exploding into a blistering barn-burner, with a protagonist who dejectedly sneers at the hopelessness of the apocalyptic times he has found himself in. Strugglin’ propels itself forward on a high-speed, borderline polka, gypsy groove and eventually bursts into full on punk-rock fury. - madmackerel