Posted on: October 23, 2021 Posted by: Kim Muncie Comments: 0

It is a painful truism of art, in all its forms, that pain often provokes us to create. We won’t discuss the many reasons why. The relevant reason when discussing Abbreviations’ new album ABBV is Ashley Leer’s need to process the news that her dad, save some sort of miracle, would die soon. The predictable response may be to write about an album about her relationship with her father, but Leer isn’t predictable. Thank God.

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/abbvband/

Leer, instead, chose to respond by examining her own life. It isn’t a “downer” release, however. Hearing how thoroughly engaged vocalist/guitarist Ashley Leer, guitarist Matt Leer, bassist Chad Walls, and drummer Tony Wann are on each track. The confident stride defining the album opener “Tower” apes the intensity of its subject – a long ago in-studio confrontation Leer still regrets. Examining the song reveals how she achieves some of her effects. Note how she utilizes enough detail to “ground” the track with a sense of place while the remainder of the lyric is comparatively general or oblique. It gives a sort of timelessness to this particular song. The confrontation continues replaying itself in her memory.

There is a haunted mood present in these songs and sometimes the ghosts are unsettled. “Leavin’ is one of the fullest tracks they wrote for this release, an impressive union of music and lyrics with a particular emphasis on structure. Chad Walls’ melodic bass line is the song’s foundational thread, but the full band performances are often explosive. The wide-eyed stare of the song’s verses soon gives way to near-nuclear blasts of guitar-driven distress.

“Trick” has one of ABBV’s best choruses. Ashley Leer’s avowed ambition to blend rock and pop stylistic elements into a cohesive and popular whole finds near-perfect expression with this track. It is also quirky enough that you’d mistake it for no one else. “Won’t Say” is one of the album’s hardest-hitting performances. The Leers are one hell of a guitar combination and have that classic weave where you struggle to tell where one player ends and the other begins.

The raw-boned guitar twang opening “Turnaround” disappears soon after the song’s introduction and more than a few listeners will lament its departure. Abbreviations settle, instead, into a sleek and bare-bones musical attack with effective flourishes and other turns layered within the song. “Wonder” ends the collection with two songs successfully merged into one. The quiet, introspective shadows throughout the track’s first half set the stage for the fireworks that follow. Experienced listeners and others who’ve made it this far with ABBV will know what’s coming with this track and nonetheless feel more than satisfied when Abbreviations’ unleashes the guitars. It gives ABBV the conclusive ending that it demands.

APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/abbreviations/1568318979

It has the unique distinction of working as cathartic musical work and succeeding as mere musical entertainment. Maintaining an inviting edge in the playing is an intelligent move when the lyrics traffic in difficult adult subject matter. You won’t get this album on a single listen. Hear it once and then go back two or three times, hearing everything again. It isn’t the Second Coming of anything but it’s a great album in any era. 

Kim Muncie

Leave a Comment