Antifogmatic
by Punch Brothers
  • Record Label: Nonesuch
  • Release Date: Jun 15, 2010
User Score
7.2

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
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  1. khutch
    Feb 16, 2013
    9
    It really is a great album and a great gift for the audience returned to Folk, these guys do a job graceful and almost flawless, Punch Brother certainly is a large group of its kind.
  2. walshiey
    Mar 9, 2015
    9
    Antifogmatic, noun. 1. An alcoholic drink taken in the morning to brace oneself before going out into bad weather. Although the setup is of a traditional five-piece string band (and the album name taken from a 19th century “health” practice), there is nothing traditional about Punch Brothers' Antifogmatic. Labeling their vein of bluegrass music as progressive would be a considerableAntifogmatic, noun. 1. An alcoholic drink taken in the morning to brace oneself before going out into bad weather. Although the setup is of a traditional five-piece string band (and the album name taken from a 19th century “health” practice), there is nothing traditional about Punch Brothers' Antifogmatic. Labeling their vein of bluegrass music as progressive would be a considerable understatement: Thile integrates influences as diverse as Bach and Bill Evans into the band's sound, as heard on their previous album Punch. While its predecessor was defined by a leviathan level of musicianship, ingenuity, and ambitiousness bordering on unintelligibility (notably Blind Leaving The Blind, a 40-minute, 4-part Newgrassical suite), Antifogmatic straddles the sidelines between the band's well known convolution and a new sense of accessibility (one may dare to use the description “poppy”) not heard since Thile's work in Nickel Creek.
    Moments like the chorus of “You Are” or the verses of “Rye Whiskey” would get most people's feet tapping, while Thile's soaring tenor vocals throughout the record dapple a feeling of familiarity over the sometimes disparate and dissonant instrumental background. The group's progressive approach to harmony and arrangement can be felt palpably on “Welcome Home” while a rich and energetic variety of rhythms are employed on “Don't Need No.” The group adorns the album with their musical chemistry and compositional prowess as one would adorn a Christmas tree with lights and ornaments, and Thile's virtuosic mandolin work floats like an angel above the whole thing.
    Although Punch Brothers is far from the most accessible group in the country and folk genres, Antifogmatic gives more handholds for easy listening than previously offered. The track “Alex” presents nice juxtaposition of a serenading, almost lullaby-esque shuffle interrupted by a more urgent chorus. Of any of the Punch Brothers' albums, I would first recommend this one to a friend. This is because of the digestibility with which the band presents their style without any sacrifice of the taste or textures that define Punch Brothers. Despite this, one should take the album with a grain of salt, bracing for unconventionalism and turbulence in Antifogmatic, much like one would take an Antifogmatic before venturing into a storm.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. AllMusic
    60
    If nothing on Antifogmatic is quite that ambitious, nevertheless in track after track Thile leads the band through labyrinthine arrangements that shift tempos and instrument groupings, over which he sings abstract lyrics in a slightly disembodied high tenor voice.
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  2. Billboard.com
    81
    While's new band Punch Brothers is building a case for bigger fame with the release of its second album, Antifogmatic.
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  3. PopMatters
    80
    It is, truly, postmodern bluegrass-keenly self-conscious of its own brilliance.
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