The Phosphorescent Blues

Can listening to music make your smarter? Well, listen to this and feel your brain expand, your brow furrow, your breath quicken, your heart swell, and your face find it can no longer hold back a smile.

I saw them live in 2012 opening for wilco and haven’t looked back. The tour supporting this album was also amazing. The talent level of this band is off the charts.

Punch Brothers are not bluegrass. I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again at some point. They're all such masterful and versatile musicians that they can't help but deviate from the roots of their instruments. Punch Brothers are an everything band. They play every genre. They dress themselves up in bluegrass to fool the unsuspecting, and bust out rock-esque tunes like "Magnet" (which, it should be noted, made me laugh in spite of myself—and that's a good thing). If you've not heard them yet, and you're still convinced they're just a really good bluegrass band, I urge you to listen to at least the following: - "Magnet": A high-energy rock-grass song about a particularly...aggressive...couple. Gets bonus points for lightning-fast banjo picking and rad octave harmonies. - "Julep": A strangely melancholy journey of a song that, as it attempts, reminds one of a back porch in spring. The climbing bass line intro and heart-wrenching opening lyrics catch the listener off guard in the most beautiful way. Gets bonus points for plucking away at my heartstrings like they were Thile's mandolin strings and making me feel emotions I didn't know existed. - "My Oh My": A strange song that can't be easily or comfortably pigeonholed into a genre. It's its own thing. The riff is really cool (you'll know what riff I mean), the sound of the verses contrasts with that of the chorus, and the swell of strings at the end made my heart swell along with the song. Bonus points for a masterfully-written and spectacularly-executed mandolin solo (yes, MANDOLIN solo).

I love this album, it's so different than most music and makes me wonder what else a band could do with acoustic instruments. Familiarity is so cool, because the same song is played in 2 different styles. Passepied is arranged perfectly for these instruments such that they bring out something new from it. Some more favs: forgotten, Julep, I blew it off... These guys have a unique sound, tasteful creativity, and mastery over their instruments. This is music🎻🎼thanks!

Having listened to his music since his earlier days in Nickel Creek, I feel pretty safe saying this is his best album by far (and Nickel Creek is a very high bar to set!).

This is one of the best albums I now own. You might listen the first time around and have a couple of songs that stick out, but you will gradually transition to loving the whole album. This is their best work, by far, in my opinion. Keep it up!

I’ve been a Chris Thile fan since the debut Nickel Creek album. Saw Punch Brothers live during their first tour and this album showcases them beautifully. I’ve listened to little else since purchasing it. I try, but find myself thinking “this isn’t doing it for me,” and turn on Phosphorescent again. There are worse addictions I guess.

Have been aware of Punch Brothers for a while via their mandolin player Chris Thile’s work on the Goat Rodeo Sessions, and love for Coen brother movies (they contributed to the soundtack for Inside Llewyn Davis) - but I'm not too familiar with Bluegrass, so haven't sought out their music before. Decided to download this album and…. dayum... they're so good. And The Phosphorescent Blues is like one of those great relationships that gets better and more interesting the more time you spend with it. You don't need to be a Bluegrass aficionado to love this - if you’re interested at all, give it a go. Just plug in the earphones and immerse – amazing stuff.

This album (and all of them for that matter) is so beautiful! They're always right on the beat, and the harmonies are superb. I saw them in Tucson, Arizona on the thirteenth of Monday and they were so amazing I wanted to cry. Keep producing top-notch music, Punch Brothers! 👍🏼

Chris is one of the best and talented musicians on multiple instruments that I can think of. He amazes me. Not too showy on this album but the music is more song like if that makes sense. This is a great great great album and I recommend to anyone. You don't have to be a modern bluegrass fan at all. It's just great music. That's all I can describe about it. Buy it, seriously.