Bryan Lee Brown AKA: Dark Brown will release his new album American Instrument on October 4th via Memory Bulldozer. Each song features guest collaborators, “Miami Rute” features Queens of the Stone Age and The Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore along with Beastie Boys & Gogol Bordello percussionist Alfredo Ortiz.

The previously released lead single, “Rhythm Surfer” features one of the last recordings of guitar icon Dick Dale — lending his legendary and oft-imitated “Machine Gun Staccato” style to the track, alongside L7 guitarist/vocalist Donita Sparks on the entrancing tune. American Instrument is conceptually just as expansive and ambitious as the lush soundscapes within. An 18-song album featuring an array of legendary guest musicians, its theme likewise embodies a profound meditation on selfhood and the Other.

Dark Brown’s new album American Instrument is the fifth album under that pseudonym, but Brown has an extensive life-long career in music: Scoring Dave Grohl’s HBO series Sonic Highways (2014) and documentary film What Drives Us (2021) as well as countless other films, TV shows and commercials, drumming for Dick Dale, as well as numerous stints as a session musician.

The album was recorded over a 12-year period at 7 different studios. It features guest appearances by surf guitar innovator Dick Dale, John Stanier (Battles, Helmet), Brad Wilk (Rage Against The Machine, Audioslave), Alfredo Ortiz (Los Lobos,Beastie Boys), Eric McFadden, Jon Theodore (QOTSA), Donita Sparks (L7), marching percussionist Marcus Joyner, Dave Catching (Desert Sessions), Jose Medeles (The Breeders, Author) and more.

The predominantly drummer-heavy line up is another element of the album’s exploration into Brown’s relationship with drumming, both musically and socially. Brown has a personal connection to almost everyone who played on the album. In a way, the album unites many common threads (personal and philosophical) throughout the musician’s life.

Dark Brown
American Instrument
Memory Bulldozer

01. Night Bloom
02. Maximum Effect I
03. Time Vector II
04. Restoring Force
05. Miami Rute
06. Great Plains
07. Rhythm Surfer Intro (ft. Dick Dale)
08. Rhythm Surfer (ft. Dick Dale, Donita Sparks)
09. American Instrument
10. Passage
11. Jose In The Hole
12. Side Drum
13. Spacetime
14. Time In My Mind
15. Walking with Louis Bellson
16. Inside The Set
17. Skyhook
18. Fabric Of The Universe

Pre-order American Instrument HERE