 |
 Caught in the Carousel - Music Reviews and More
|
Brakesbrakesbrakes
The Beatific Visions
Rough Trade
Although the members of Brakesbrakesbrakes were all in other bands (British Sea Power, Electric Soft Parade, Tenderfoot) when they got together and started jamming in 2002, what originally started as a busman’s holiday ending up being something much more. The group’s debut Give Blood was a loose and startling piece of work, offering an intensity and looseness seldom seen in pop music anymore. The band’s sophomore album The Beatific Visions, picks up where its predecessor left off and as a result there’s much to admire. But for starters, there’s the growling “Porcupine Or Pineapple”; the searing “Cease and Desist” and the country stomp of “If I Should Die Tonight,” which brings to mind the early work of The Frames. What’s so impressive about Brakesbrakesbrakes is the band’s range: “Hold Me In The River” and “Margarita” have all the punch and snarl of The Pixies; “Spring Chicken” is a furious post-punk hoedown; and the breezy chorus on “Beatific Visions” suggests The Beach Boys. Singer Eamon Hamilton is a charismatic frontman, imbuing each number with his signature menacing purl; he emerges here as a singer with tremendously innovative phrasing. From the gentle pop of “Mobile Communication” to the spare “Isabel,” he proves he’s not afraid to wrap syllables around each other just to see what happens. And what happens is pure magic.
--Alex Green
Can we help you find something?