When Andrew Seward packed his bags and left Against Me! behind earlier this year, few would have expected him to return to music quite this quickly. On Human Parts' self-titled debut he's playing for the hell of it, with his wife and a few select collaborators along for the ride.
Written and recorded at his house, inbetween stints washing dishes in a Gainesville pizza place, 'Human Parts' is loose and rough around the edges, but also carries its share of shaggy dog charm. Seward plays the role of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, with his family and home life the most constant source of inspiration.
His vocals are a barked cross between Chuck Ragan and Skinhead Rob of the Transplants, and while they often leave something to be desired the album's overall ramshackle sound means that he gets away with it for the most part.
Perhaps Seward's wisest move, and this collection's saving grace, was the decision to draft in a whole host of backing vocalists, including his wife, Verite, Andy "Pants" Schwich and Kim Helm.
These extra voices add layers and melody to tracks like Work On Not Working and The Rumble, dancing behind Seward's lead and taking some of the strain off Human Parts' de-facto leader. The production is suitably stripped back, befitting the record's origin as a home project and also its style, which lands somewhere between street punk, indie and electric folk.
On Now We Wake Up and Best Foot Forward Seward reins everything in and displays a couple of winning melodies over acoustic guitars, hinting at plenty of songwriting potential beneath Human Parts' sometimes gruff exterior.
Human Parts is a band born out of a musician's desire to get back in the game on his own terms and, largely, it works. It's not always pretty, and there are plenty of kinks to iron out, but it's hard not to get swept up in the idea of friends getting out there and playing music together for the first time.
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