Brodie have always threatened so much but never actually managed to carry it off over the course of an entire album. The Seattle mob, close to MxPx both personally and in sound, released the ‘When I’m With You’ EP and hardly anyone noticed, which was a shame because some of the songs are classy pop-punk anthems. This new record, released over in Japan, carries on Brodie‘s failing to really put out a killer record. While there are plenty of good points there’s not enough to put them in the top bracket of bands of a similar ilk.
‘The Good Life’ gets off to a great start with the awesome ‘This Is My Life’, a big highlight as guitars blaze around all over the shop and the drums rattle like an AK-47 on a battlefield. The production is slick (not sick MxPx) and the chorus is as catchy as SARS. The hooks and melodies are certainly a Brodie trait as many of their songs are based around the same notion – big sounding guitar riffs and a chorus with a hook the size of a small African country. ‘Quarter Life Crisis’ is more of the same, coming across like Allister in delivery, while ‘My Response’ sounds a hell of a lot like The Ataris circa ‘End Is Forever’ – which of course also sounds like Antifreeze. Either way, if you like the sound of all that, and many of you do, then Brodie are a band for you.
‘High Standards (She’s Out Of My League)’ is incredibly purile stuff but redeems itself because it is so damn catchy, ‘I’m Sorry Now’ doesn’t make too much of an impression but ‘Lend A Hand’ is awesome. Fast and furious, stick this on a mixtape and pass it onto a friend – it’s a real highlight. But then the record continues with a few filler tracks which pass through with more of a whimper than a bang – ‘The Personal Ads’ for example is too light to make much of an impact. But true to form the band then pull a cracker out of the bag in ‘Coffee, Black’, which sums Brodie up. If they could sort out this inconsistency they could make a few more waves.
Brodie are good and well worth checking out, but there’s nothing new or special and it does sound a little worn over 13 songs. There lack of originality and because they sound similar to a lot of bands doesn’t do them many favours, but if you like the aforementioned bands then you’ll enjoy Brodie. The extra CD is a worthy addition mind and if you buy direct from the band it works out to be good value. You could do a hell of a lot worse, like buy the new MxPx record for example…
www.brodiepunk.com
Released on Bigmouth JPN
Paul