BrakesBrakesBrakes- Touchdown

I have never toured Europe. In fact, never been to Europe and I am a terrible musician so it seems unlikely that I am right about this but I will say it anyway; BrakesBrakesBrakes new record , sound like a bunch of musicians touring Europe. It is pure energy, musicianship and lyrical hilarity. It quite simply is the best record to be released in 2009.
BrakesBrakesBrakes, known back home as simply Brakes, are on their third record and you would be hard pressed to say that they didn’t get it right on the first two but it is their latest, Touchdown unites all that is great about countrymen Arctic Monkeys, the lyrical versatility of its founder’s other band British Sea Power and the pure power of Gentleman Jesse’s American release last year. It is tumbleweed that’s trip down the hill snagged elements of Joy Division, Book of Love, Jesus and Marychain and Oasis.
The record rips open with Two Shocks, an electronic beat that claims to be tired of the Third World War and aches for the fourth. Just as quickly “Touchdown becomes a love story with “Don’t Take me to Space, Man . There’s an opening bass riff reminiscent of Old Man Kinsey but that is where, in this instance, the comparisons end. Michael Stipe has never written so upbeat about love. Eamon says” I ve had a taste of true love. I don’t care if the world is corrupted”. Like the rest of the record, it’s built for live shows with hooks and bridges throughout.
Lyrically, Eamon sometimes invokes peers like Badly Drawn Boy or even Billy Bragg. Not as overtly political, he takes on relations in Worry About It Later and croons about leaving home in “Leaving England”. Both of these tracks lend to the fullness of the record but neither carries forward the mission to melt faces in the way that much of the other songs do.
Crush on You is a bit derivative. Vocally it feels like a Bush song. Then there is the descending and repeating bass line that sounds a lot like The Breeders Cannonball. This may be the third time this year that someone wrote a great song using that bass line. It may not be totally original but it is far more punk than either of its predecessors. Do You Feel the Same is the albums true high point. This super group really is at their best when they invoke the ghosts of Johnny Marr and Jesus and Mary Chain in the same song. The rest of it feels stale.
The Winter of last year saw the release of some records that signaled a return to the real rock album. The Hold Steady, Gentleman Jesse and Roger Bryan and the Orphans indicated that we were willing to hold up our end of the bargain in the states. Brakes latest release, Touchdown indicates that our friends across the pond are not shying away from the challenge.