Brakes have been one of my favorite bands ever since I was turned on to their astounding debut album - last year's Give Blood. The new album The Beatific Visions is due out November 6 in the UK; as of yet no release date has been set for this side of the pond. If these gents make only one thing clear with TBV, it's that there will be no Brakes sophomore slump, to be sure.
Hold Me In The River jump-starts the album with 30 seconds of crescendoing guitar riffs leading right into Eamon Hamilton's distinctive vocals. Over the next 29 minutes TBV weaves a tapestry of country-jangle punk-tinged tender-ballad 60's-infused rock n' roll. These guys can cram more into 2 minutes (the length of your average Brakes song) than most bands out there.
Personal highlights:
°Mobile Communication - A sweetly delivered tune about the pitfalls of cellular phones. Brilliant.
°Porcupine Or Pineapple - One minute and four seconds of angry politicking.
°Cease And Desist - The fate of the world is at stake when God and Satan sit down to some whiskey and poker.
°No Return - This beautiful track makes an analogy between love and visiting a record store. Could be the Brakes' longest song ever at a whopping 4:57!!!
The two criticisms I have about this album are minor:
°The thing clocks in at just under 29 minutes. I understand the "leave 'em wanting more" philosophy, but I want more, dammit!
°I love No Return, I just feel that it's a real downer to end the album. This could be a marketing ploy, however, as what I usually want to do after No Return is go right back up to Hold Me In The River and start the whole ride over again... :)
All in all, TBV is a very solid album that will undoubtedly make it to many Best Of 2006 Lists (mine included, I daresay). At present I can't necessarily proclaim that TBV is better than GB... I'd say it's more of a continuation. A bit more polished, a bit more political, just as much fun. In short, what these Brakes are doing with their music isn't being done by anyone else in the indie rock world. Safe to say if you are a fan of GB, then TBV surely won't disappoint.
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