What if Zach Bryan Is Actually as Good as His Huge, Fanatical Audience Thinks He Is?
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Zach Bryan has a fair amount of Bruce Springsteen in him. But not just a single Bruce.
When the newly minted superstar headlined L.A.’s Crypto.com Arena last week (in a single sold-out gig at a venue he probably could have filled several times over), it felt like he is veering toward having his own “Born in the USA” moment, reviving that familiar mixture of populism and substance and making a new generation of fans scramble to get a scarce ticket.
But then, a couple of days later, Bryan did something funny: He digitally released a new album — titled just “Zach Bryan” — that comes closer to feeling like his “Nebraska” than any go-for-broke, roaring, grab-the-brass-ring kind of record.
He’s marching to the beat of his own Boss, and it’s not always the one you expect. First watching Bryan’s ability to captivate a capacity crowd with not much more than the force of some strong, robustly played rock ‘n’ roll songwriting, and then hearing him follow with an album that leans a little more into his sadcore/low-fi/indie-folk side, I found myself finally being pushed off the fence, into being a fan.
Read more on variety.com