"We are headed north."

 

It's all right there in the first verse of the first song of the first major label album by the Avett Brothers. This band of foot-stomping, string-breaking renegades from Concord, NC, were moving on up -- creatively, artistically and, yes, commercially. But "I and Love and You" is not a sell-out album. It's a growth album. All the emotionalism is still there; but the boys -- Seth & Scott Avett, Bob Crawford and Joe Kwon -- are maturing, and asking their fans to mature with them with "I&L&Y." This beautifully-crafted and produced album -- Rick Rubin is to thank for that -- is a statement album. As they sing on "Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise": "Decide what to be and go be it."  With "I and Love and You," the Avett Brothers did just that.

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