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Album Reviews
Album Review: Brakes – Touchdown (FatCat)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 20 April 2009
So, the third album from Brakes is finally upon us. For those who don’t know, Brakes is two parts Electric Soft Parade, one part ex-British Sea Power and one part The Tenderfoot – a super group in a very indie sense. Their new long player carries on with the off kilter mix of country, punk and rock we’ve come to expect, this time with a (very) loose otherworldly space theme. Now signed to FatCat and with Paul Savage of The Delgados fame at the producer’s wheel, the feel is of a band really enjoying their craft. Eamon Hamilton’s lyrics continue to be politically savvy, amusing and heartfelt at the same time while there is no shortage of tunes on offer either. ‘Worry About It Later’ takes on conspiracy theories and the hopelessness of trying to uncover what the “cloaks and daggers” are doing when you are just small fry, similarly ‘Crush On You’ references “Skull And Bones”, Dubya’s old university gang, as well as a mountain range in Kyrgyzstan – just to keep you on your toes, like. At the other end we have ‘Why Tell The Truth (When It’s Easier To Lie)’, explaining that Eamon only drinks because “beer helps the cigarettes go down”. It’s all good stuff, and the music is a mix too – from the thrash of ‘Red Rag’ to the country tinged ‘Eternal Return’ via the rumbling, epic, Jesus & Mary Chainesque ‘Oh! Forever’, there is never a dull moment. IM
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