The Avett Brothers Wax Poetic (and Politically) on 'Bang Bang'

Instead of tackling issues head-on in the spirit of Jason Isbell or the Highwomen, the Avett Brothers revisit the days of symbolic and poetic folk-rock in their new song “Bang Bang.” Press play above to hear the new track, which, along with its accompanying music video, was released on Friday (Sept. 6).

Whether or not it was their intention, brothers Scott and Seth Avett’s poetic wordplay regarding gun violence points back to the surreal story-songs of Don McLean, Melanie and others.

“A song like "Bang Bang," Seth and I will talk for hours about,” Scott Avett tells Billboard. “The TV will be playing, and we’ll see these movies that are just ludicrous. You know? They’re nuts. And we’re going ... we’ll flip from one channel and see some terrible shooting that’s happened, and then we flip to whatever and there’s a movie going, and you’re like -- it’s real life here, and then I go over here and it’s two-fold. I just think all these things have accumulated enough to talk about.”

"Bang Bang" previews the Avett Brothers' forthcoming album, Closer Than Together, which is due out on Oct. 4. Per a press release, Scott Avett thinks of his band’s 10th album as an exploration of harsh reality, not a political rallying cry.

“The last thing the world needs is another piece of sociopolitical commentary,” he says. “We didn’t make a record that was meant to comment on the sociopolitical landscape that we live in. We did, however, make an album that is obviously informed by what is happening now on a grander scale all around us … because we are a part of it and it is a part of us …

"The Avett Brothers will probably never make a sociopolitical record," he adds. "But if we did, it might sound something like this.”

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