ALBUM REVIEW: Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave – Gregor Barnett

Given the reverence with which his song-writing is held in the rock community, it’s a little surprising that THE MENZINGERS‘ co-vocalist/guitarist Greg Barnett had never really stepped outside of the fold of writing punk-rock bangers with the Scranton quartet up to this point. Oft held up as one of the premier songwriters of his scene, we began to see a more tender side to his work when lockdown led THE MENZINGERS to forge 2020’s From Exile, a reworked version of their acclaimed Hello Exile that traded power-chords for campfire acoustic strumming. Now though, it also seems that the events of these last couple of years have finally given GREGOR BARNETT (yep, he’s recording under his full birth name this time) the opportunity to explore something even more personal, resulting in his solo debut proper – the poetically-titled Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave.

Those going into this record solely expecting the kind of punk-rock that made On The Impossible Past and After The Party such modern classics should have those thoughts immediately banished, as opener Oh Lord, What Do You Know? pretty much sets the pace for a lot of what’s to come, with twangy country music-esque guitar lines guiding Barnett’s mournful, pleading melodic vocal. Americana has long been an undercurrent part of his music, but here it’s the main driving element and indeed the key factor in making Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave truly excel throughout. The First Dead Body I Ever Saw sees Barnett evokes the dark storytelling likes of Nick Cave and Tom Waits, and No Peace Of Mind To Rest manages to make you teary-eyed over a harmonica solo of all things.

Indeed, the only real moment here that come across recognisably MENZINGERS-esque comes early on with single Driving Through The Night, the anthemic chorus of which could’ve easily found its way onto Hello Exile. It’s undoubtedly a highlight of the record, with a welcome increase in pace, but the fact it doesn’t completely eclipse everything surrounding it really speaks to the wide-reaching ability of Barnett as a songwriter. On the (ever so slightly) more sonically upbeat side of things, Talking To Your Tombstone is part Johnny Cash, part Springsteen-gone-Americana, while Hurry Me Down To Hades goes all Delta blues stomp, complete with a killer guitar solo and Hammond organ-like backing. Meanwhile, emotional closer Guest In Your House sees the vocalist casting a wistful eye back towards his childhood in a slow-building ballad that builds and builds but never allows itself to fully explode, and is all the better for it, capping off the album in a beautifully touching fashion.

Taking somewhat of a radical departure from what you’re known for can sometimes be a risk in music, but Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave deftly avoids any potential pitfalls, delivering an appropriately heartfelt collection of songs sure to resonate with fans of anything Barnett has put his name to already. It might take almost no cues from what the vast majority of people might expect from a name so entrenched in the sound of modern punk rock, but isn’t such a complete unwillingness to be pigeonholed the most punk rock idea of all?

Rating: 8/10

Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave is set for release on February 18th via Epitaph Records.

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