Album Reviews Music

Bravo Johnson – The Crooked And The Straight Album Review

Vee Hua 華婷婷1 min readSeptember 18, 2008Add comment

An sepia-tinted image of an army of skulled soldiers is a good way to be introduced to any band. Thoughts of creepy, dark experimental music comes to mind, but Bravo Johnson is not quite that predictable. In actuality, The Crooked And The Straight is a monstrous 27-track double CD of folk and classic rock-influenced songs that are polished to a sheen and sound as though they were created by some real professionals. One has to wonder, though, if it’s a bit pretentious for an unknown band to release their sophomore album as a double disc. Does it get tiresome? Slightly. Bravo Johnson obviously has talent but had they kept the best tracks from both discs and tossed the rest, the album would probably be rather amazing.

Tagged asalt-country bizarre bravo johnson cinematic folk rock self-released soul stone junction records visually-evocative

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Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and organizer with semi-nomadic tendencies. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Managing Editor of South Seattle Emerald, and Co-Chair of the Seattle Arts Commission. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!, and are pursuing a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota.

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