From Brooklyn Buskers to Cosmic Folk-Bluegrass-Pop: Damn Tall Buildings’ ‘The Universe Is Hungry’ is a Thrilling Feast of Modern Roots
By Christian Lamitschka for Country Music News International Magazine
Damn Tall Buildings, the celebrated Brooklyn trio, has spent over a decade refining their distinctive “guerrilla roots” sound, honing their craft through dedicated busking and touring. On their fourth full-length album, The Universe Is Hungry, Max Capistran (guitar, banjo), Sasha Dubyk (upright bass), and Avery Ballotta (fiddle) channel that infectious, raw energy—a vibrant mix of old-time, blues, jazz, and bluegrass—into a thoughtful exploration of modern life.
The album leans into the anxiety of the 21st century, asking where meaning and identity fit in an age defined by constant motion and glowing screens. The result is a thrilling, thoughtful record that balances its weighty themes with infectious, joyful musicianship. It’s an album where existential dread is set to a foot-stomping rhythm, offering not tidy answers, but the powerful, shared solace of harmony and a soaring fiddle.
Track-by-Track Review
1. The Simulator The album launches with a high-octane, philosophical hook. “The Simulator” uses a sci-fi premise—the idea that life is just an elaborate simulation—as a clever metaphor for digital burnout and the search for authentic reality. The bright, melodic interplay between the strings contrasts beautifully with the heavy-lifting lyricism, setting a tone where big questions are always chased by a big groove. It’s a perfect encapsulation of their sound: intellectually restless, musically irresistible.
2. Thick Smoke The energy slows down significantly here, pulling into a moment of graceful, lived-in melancholy. Sasha Dubyk’s upright bass provides a grounding anchor while Avery Ballotta’s fiddle work floats with an easy, contemplative grace. The lyrics evoke a peaceful moment by a river, blending sadness with the quiet beauty of a memory—a gentle pause before the album dives deeper into chaos.
3. Can’t Slow Down This track captures the nervous, uncomfortable energy of radical change. It speaks to the disorientation of looking in the mirror and barely recognizing the person staring back after constant self-reinvention. The shared lead vocals, particularly the tension in the harmony between Capistran and Dubyk, underline the restless theme, pushing the song forward with a sense of necessary, yet exhausting, momentum.
4. The Universe Is Hungry The title track stands as the emotional and thematic centerpiece. It’s an upbeat, anthemic, folk-pop bop that deliberately juxtaposes bright music with a sense of impending doom: “The universe is eating us alive and we’ll probably all die.” The song acknowledges the overwhelming pace of modern life, but the repeated chorus—”I hope that you and I survive”—is a collective, hard-won affirmation of love and shared hope in the face of modern burnout. It’s a defiant call to community.
5. Ease Your Mind A deceptively simple moment of calm and reassurance. It strips back the sound to deliver a deeply relatable message about holding it together when everything feels like it’s falling apart. It’s the trio at their most direct and empathetic, offering a quiet, simple melody that acts as a necessary deep breath for the listener.
6. Turkish Airlines This song takes a more introspective and dreamlike turn. It drifts into a hazy, cinematic space, where Ballotta’s subtle sound design elements broaden the band’s acoustic palette. It’s a love song about change and identity, capturing the blurred sense of time and place that comes with constant travel and shifting emotional landscapes.
7. Legese Abdi (feat. HaddinQo) A major standout that expands the band’s musical geography. Featuring Ethiopian artist HaddinQo, the track connects the American folk tradition directly to the African rhythms and musical structures that helped shape it. It’s a beautifully executed piece that is both a tribute and a statement, reminding the listener that roots music is always global and evolving.
8. Blue Bayou Damn Tall Buildings takes on the Roy Orbison/Linda Ronstadt classic, and the decision is a brave and rewarding one. Sasha Dubyk’s vocal performance is the highlight; stripped of the original’s lush orchestration, the song becomes a moment of stillness and reflection. It’s a retreat to a familiar, quieter place, offering a necessary moment of calm amid the album’s conceptual storm.
9. No Weed in Paris Injecting a dose of humor and self-awareness, this track is part travelogue and part stoner confessional. It’s a clever narrative about how life’s small, sometimes ridiculous moments can bring the greatest clarity—especially when forced to slow down and appreciate the present. It’s a moment of levity that proves the trio hasn’t lost its grounded, witty lyricism.
10. Big Ball in Brooklyn The album closes with pure, unadulterated celebration. A reworking of the Flatt & Scruggs classic “Big Ball in Cowtown,” this track, retitled and featuring guest players on mandolin and dobro, is a joyful, loose, and loud jam session. It serves as the ultimate nod to bluegrass tradition while firmly planting the band in their home base of Brooklyn, concluding the journey with community and unbridled, infectious instrumental flair.
Final Verdict
The Universe Is Hungry is the natural evolution of Damn Tall Buildings. The trio successfully translates their raw, busking-honed ‘guerrilla roots’ energy—that vibrant mix of blues, jazz, and bluegrass—into a sophisticated, philosophically-minded present. The album deftly navigates the disorienting noise of the modern world, not by escaping it, but by facing it with powerful harmonies and intricate, thoughtful acoustic interplay. It affirms that even when the universe feels like it’s eating us alive, the shared experience of music and connection is the feast that keeps us anchored. A brilliant and essential listen for anyone seeking a sound that’s both vintage and vigorously new.