American Aquarium at Growlers - Memphis, TN

Saturday December 14th, 2024

7PM DOORS 8PM SHOW 

$25 ADV $30 DOS

ALL AGES

VIP TICKETS AVAILABLE AT https://www.americanaquarium.com/vip

For nearly twodecades, American Aquarium have pushed toward that rare form of rock-and-roll that’srevelatory in every sense. “For us the sweet spot is when you’ve got a rockband that makes you scream along to every word, and it’s not until you’recoming down at three a.m. that you realize those words are saying somethingreal about your life,” says frontman BJ Barham. “That’s what made us fall in love with music in thefirst place, and that’s the goal in everything we do.” On their new album TheFear of Standing Still,the North Carolina-bred band embody that dynamic with more intensity than everbefore, endlessly matching their gritty breed of country-rock with Barham’s bravest and most incisivesongwriting to date. As he reflects on matters both personal and sociocultural—e.g.,the complexity of Southern identity, the intersection of generational traumaand the dismantling of reproductive rights—American Aquarium instill every moment of The Fear of Standing Still with equal parts unbridled spiritand illuminating empathy.

Recorded liveat the legendary Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, The Fear of Standing Still marks American Aquarium’s second outing withproducer Shooter Jennings—a three-time Grammy winner who also helmed productionon 2020’s critically lauded Lamentations,as well as albums from the likes of Brandi Carlile and Tanya Tucker. In adeparture from the stripped-down subtlety of 2022’s Chicamacomico (a largely acoustic rumination on grief),the band’s tenth studio LP piles on plenty of explosive riffs and hard-chargingrhythms, bringing a visceral energy to the most nuanced and poetic of lyrics.“In our live show the band’s like a freight train that never lets up, and forthis record I really wanted to showcase how big and anthemic we can be,” notes Barham, whose bandmatesinclude guitarist Shane Boeker, pedal-steel guitarist Neil Jones, keyboardist RhettHuffman, drummer Ryan Van Fleet, and bassist Alden Hedges.

Mixed by four-timeGrammy winner Trina Shoemaker (Queens of the Stone Age, Emmylou Harris), TheFear of Standing Still sharesits title with one of the first songs Barham wrote for the album—a soul-baring look at how raising afamily has radically altered his priorities and perspective. In the process ofcreating what he refers to as “a recordabout growing up and growing older,” Barham also found his songwriting closely informed by his tenyears of sobriety, as well as his ever-deepening connection with American Aquarium’s community of fans. “Wheneversomeone tells me that one of our songs helped them in some way, it encouragesme to be more and more open—almost like peeling a layer off an onion,” he says.“This album is a writer 18 years into his career, peeling away the next layerand seeing just how human we can make this thing.”

Expandingon the raw vitality of previous albums like 2012’s Jason Isbell-produced Burn.Flicker.Die, TheFear of Standing Still kicksoffs with “Crier”: a gloriously ferocious track that swiftly obliteratesworn-out ideals of masculine behavior. “It’s a song about breaking down whatmany of us learned from our fathers growing up—this idea that boys don’t cry, orthat crying is a form of weakness,” says Barham, who co-wrote “Crier” with singer/songwriter Stephen WilsonJr. “I wanted to send the message that it’s not natural to bottle everything upinside, because all of us are meant to feel.” Fueled by a savage and soaring vocalperformance from Barham, the result is a perfect encapsulation of American Aquarium’s multilayered artistry. “Idon’t think anyone’s going to get through that first listen of ‘Crier’ and think,‘Wow, what a great song about disrupting the cycle of toxic masculinity!’” Barhampoints out. “It seems more likely that it’ll make them want to dance and jumparound, and then when they put the headphones on and listen a little closer tothe lyrics, that’s when they’ll start to understand what we’re talking about.”

Aresolutely outspoken artist who’s emerged as one of the most progressive voicesin country music, Barham infuses an element of trenchant social commentary intoa number of tracks on The Fear of Standing Still. On “Southern Roots,” for instance, Georgia-bornsinger/songwriter Katie Pruitt joins American Aquarium for a spellbinding meditationon pushing against the boundaries of traditional Southern identity. “People cancomplain all they want about how backwards the South is, but the only way we’llsee any change is to take it upon ourselves,” says Barham. “For me, that meansraising my daughter so that she’ll never witness the closed-mindedness and blatantdisrespect for certain people that I often saw at her age. Because if youreally love something the way I love the South, then you want to see it grow.” Co-writtenby Barhamand Pruitt, “Southern Roots” startsoff as a beautifully understated folk song graced with heavenly harmonies, thenbuilds to a reverb-drenched frenzy at the bridge—a shift that sharply intensifiesthe track’s galvanizing power.

Anothersong anchored in Barham’s ardent belief in breaking generational patterns, “BabiesHaving Babies” arrives as a finespun piece of storytelling that doubles as anemphatic pro-choice anthem. “It’s a mix of fiction and personal experience, andfelt like an important story to tell at a time when a woman’s right to chooseis being taken away,” says Barham. After opening on a nostalgic tale of awhirlwind summer romance, “Babies Having Babies” slowly takes on a powerfulurgency as the narrative turns to questions of consequence andself-preservation (from the second verse: “We packed up a bag and drove to thecity/Shouldered through the pickets and the hand-painted signs/They called hernames while they called themselves Christians/That sort of hate’s got no placein any faith of mine”). “I grew up in a small and very conservative town whereabortion was not an option, so I saw a lot of people trapped in thatgenerational cycle of getting pregnant at a young age and ending up stuck in thesame town forever instead of following whatever dreams they might have had,”says Barham. “I wanted to write about what could have happened if one of thosegirls had refused to give up her aspirations, and made that choice to liveanother way.”  

WhileAmerican Aquarium bring a lived-in intimacy to all of The Fear of Standing Still, songs like “Cherokee Purples” encompassa particularly tender emotionality. A wistful reminiscence of all the charmedand wild summers of Barham’s youth, the track unfolds in so many gorgeously detailedimages (kudzu vines and fireflies, menthol cigarettes and Big League Chew),each rendered with a loving specificity that lingers in the listener’s heart. “‘CherokeePurples’ came from me making a tomato sandwich in my kitchen, and immediatelygetting taken back to all the summer days when we’d get dropped off at mygrandmother’s so my parents could go to work,” says Barham. “It’s crazy howsomething as simple as a tomato sandwich with Duke’s Mayonnaise can take me toa whole other world, but to me it’s almost like a talisman of where I’m fromand how I was raised.” Meanwhile, on “The Curse of Growing Old,” AmericanAquarium look to the other end of the life spectrum, conjuring a life-affirmingmood despite the song’s excruciating honesty. “I wrote that after talking withmy grandmother at her 92nd birthday party and learning what it waslike for her to grow older and watch so many people in her life pass away,”says Barham. “It’s true that getting older is a gift, but it’s a gift we payfor with an incredible amount of loss.”  

ForBarham, the sharing of hard truths is indelibly tied to his sense of devotionto American Aquarium’s audience—and to his belief in rock-and-roll as a singularlyunifying force. “All I really want to do is put words to the emotions that mostpeople have a difficult time expressing on their own,” he reveals. “No matterwhat that emotion is, when you put it into a song and then get to those momentswhen a whole bunch of people are singing that song all together, it makes you seethat you’re part of something bigger than you ever realized. That’s when youcan really affect people’s lives, and to me this record is another steppingstone to making that a reality.”