Punch Brothers’ line-up includes some of the most impressive and widely respected musicians performing today: Chris Eldridge (guitar), Paul Kowert (bass), Noam Pikelny (banjo), Chris Thile (mandolin and lead vocals), and Gabe Witcher (fiddle). The Boston Globe says of the band, “…this top shelf acoustic quintet is a virtuosic revelation,” while the Chicago Tribune says “their breathtaking virtuosity isn’t about soloing but complex ensemble unity, with a cumulative power that leaves the listener pleasantly rung out.”
Punch Brothers returned with their second album, Antifogmatic, in June 2010 on Nonesuch. The record was the follow-up to the band’s highly praised 2008 debut, Punch, which The New Yorker calls “…wide-ranging and restlessly imaginative…” A special deluxe edition of the album will also be available. Included in the package is a four song instrumental EP, All of This Is True, as well as a seven song DVD, Live from the Lower East Side: It’s p-Bingo Night!, which was filmed during the band’s residency at NYC’s The Living Room.
Produced by Jon Brion (Brad Mehldau, Of Montreal, Elliott Smith, Kanye West), Antifogmatic was recorded, mixed, and mastered at Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood during the winter of 2009–2010. While Punch was focused around Thile’s four-movement composition The Blind Leaving the Blind, Antifogmatic’s 10 songs were written collaboratively by the band. Of the process, Witcher explains, “We knew we needed a producer equally as well versed in pop and rock as in instrumental music, and I don’t think there is anyone more able to capture and communicate the essence of this material than Jon Brion.”
Antifogmatic is named after a type of 19th century alcoholic drink that was meant as a cure for the effects of fog and other inclement weather. Of choosing the title, Thile notes, “Antifogmatic is an old term for a bracing beverage, generally rum or whiskey, that a person would have before going out to work in rough weather to stave off any ill effects. This batch of tunes could be used in much the same way, and includes some characters who would probably benefit mightily, if temporarily, from a good antifogmatic.” The band’s current album, “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” was released in 2012 on Nonesuch.
