Brian Russ has a family, a job, he coaches baseball—stuff that often comes with mature adulthood. But he found time to put this album together. He calls the project Hand Gestures.
Some people—maybe especially once they reach their 40s—try to be in the moment but also frequently find themselves thinking about the past and trying to relate it to now. That’s what happens in these simple little songs.
For starters, “Once it Starts to Kick In” is a simple little jam about opening up oneself to whatever good there is in whatever reality has become. The song includes an overdriven guitar that intrudes in a way that is at odds with the easy-going sound of the drums, acoustic guitar, and vocal. And mid-song, a little keyboard offers a toy melody that plays well with that overdrive.
Most of the album is like this: simple songs—songs that feel like they were already written, and Russ just had to channel them for himself.
Russ has been playing music a while. Check out the video “I’m Not Lying” by a band he was in, Backwords, posted more than 10 years ago. Man, that is a good song. The pining, the purity of the voice? Lovely. The loose composition and modest hi-hat tapping away the time. That oldie has a kind and rooted sound.
The Hand Gestures self-titled album will be released October 31, 2025, on Russ’s own label, Campers’ Rule Records. But today he needs to stop at Home Depot to get a spare key made and pick up some weed killer.
Notes: A lot generous, this review. I don't think Russ is even the singer for Backwords. That song was the main reason I wrote this.
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