Meredith Bragg & The Terminals

Vol. 1

(The Kora Records)

Record Review

Smart songwriting never goes out of style, nor do somber songs, so Meredith Bragg should have a fruitful career in front of him. On Vol. 1, Bragg showcases a flair for patience and spaciousness, giving his tales of fear and self-loathing plenty of room to breathe and stretch. He knows his strengths and plays to them; his voice wavers with an earnest fragility akin to Ben Gibbard, wearing his heart on his sleeve without getting all precious and insufferable about it.

One of the hooks of Vol. 1 is that its songs would be perfectly palatable as stand-alones, featuring just Bragg and his guitar. Indeed, the album repeatedly strips down near that level. The Terminals take the less-is-more approach and use it to fine effect, as when Brian Minter’s piano rises up to greet Bragg’s lonesome strum on the beginning of “I Won’t Let You Down.” That song is the album’s centerpiece, simple and direct and gracefully executed. It is also, however, a minor example of Bragg’s patience backfiring on him, as the song repeats itself for too long during a end build that doesn’t really arrive anywhere. Regardless, it is the signature song on the album, that one that best defines or explains the work around it.

Minter also shines alongside Bragg on “Shattering” and “My Only Enemy,” the album’s other standouts. Working from a well-used template, Bragg & The Terminals arrive at their own conclusions. Hopefully there are many volumes of them to come.