Cult band Guster takes a new direction

The new album from cult favorite Guster is a new sound for the band, a fresh new style and… The new album from cult favorite Guster is a new sound for the band, a fresh new style and slight change in attitude. Keep It Together is a solid release for the trio, who met at freshmen orientation at Tufts University.

A mix of jam-band style and feel-good rock attitudes make up the backbone of Gusters’ music.

Their second album, like their first, was filled with acoustic guitar and bongo rock.

Keep It Together retains the same feel-good attitude as the previous three albums, but Rosenworcel plays a drum set for most of this one, setting his bongos to the side, possibly to assure use of his hands later on in life.

The new direction that Guster takes with Keep It Together is refreshing. It has more of a swinging pop feel to it, which comes mainly from the addition of the drum set. Setting aside the bongos not only saves Brian’s hands, but also adds a new feel to the music.

Highlights of Keep It Together include the poppy, upbeat track “Amsterdam,” a song about breaking up and getting lost in Amsterdam. The first line is, “Throw away your greatest hits/You left them here the day you split,” and the chorus answers with, “I’m gonna write you a letter/Gonna write you a book/Wanna see your reaction/Wanna see how it looks.”

The video for “Amsterdam” was filmed there and is receiving a considerable amount of airplay on MTV2.

“Backyard” is a mellow track that sports the bongos and is a reflection on letting go and not caring anymore, “The grass is always overgrown and the weeds are choking on the sun/Pretty soon they’ll come under the door and you don’t care.”

There are more laid back tracks on this album than on the prior albums, but they mix well with the upbeat tracks, making this album one of those that sets the mood for either parties or lazy nights of lying around.