John Andrews & The Yawns :: STREETSWEEPER
Album Artwork: Kyle Field (Little Wings)
Photo: Michael Stasiak
Brooklyn, New York, more specifically, Red Hook-based multi-instrumentalist, illustrator, and poet of the past’s never-ending nostalgia, John Andrews, is a household name on the DIY circuit and beyond. Returning to the soothing surface after spring’s spiritual sacrifice of winter’s weary weight with a brand-new body of work with his band, the Yawns “STREETSWEEPER,” Andrews’ 5th solo album, and debut on the Birmingham, Alabama-based label Earth Libraries, holds nothing back as he carefully carves through the intense ice that rests below the blazing blades of his vintage Super Tacks. When he’s not touring or lending his trademark talents to the likes of Woods and Cut Worms, you can find him quietly tucked away, manning the salty sails of his sonic ship, while his sophisticated sights are set on an intimate island somewhere harmoniously holy. Since the release of his debut solo album “Bit By The Fang” back in 2015, Andrews has spun a wondrous web over the last decade as a fundamental force among his peers and critical contemporaries. While channeling the essence of skateboard culture, ‘90s cartoons, the Dead, Pee-wee Herman, the meditations of Mickey Mouse, and the galvanized ghost of Harry Nilsson, “STREETSWEEPER” heroically highlights the brilliance of the musician’s calm compositions and guitar-strong songs that cascade down the flowing fretboard, and under the bridge. Connecting the natural world with the guttural grime of the city’s cultural core, the album sets out on an athletic adventure through the stunning streets, poetic parks, and legendary landscapes of New York’s breathtaking biodiversity of people, places, and things. Now it’s up to Andrews to illustrate those interpretations of his surreal surroundings and bring them to life through melodic manifestation.
A fantastic follow-up to 2023’s “Love For The Underground”, which was released exactly two years ago this month, Andrews creatively captures that animated atmosphere he’s so known for by carefully collecting the cosmic contents before casting them out into the thawing East River, where they lie dormant as a tempting treasure awaiting the discovery of the decade. Across the skeletal sonics of the album, songs like “My Memory”, “The Last Word”, “Friends In Misery”, and the album’s opener, “Someone To Be Said”, sweep across the chipped sidewalks, and in front of legendary local businesses like a biblical breeze, carrying with it weathered coffee cups, and leftover trash from a time that has since passed. Written in New York and recorded in LA with friends and creative colleagues, the album features an intimate insight into the musician’s polished process and overall dedication to his craft.
