Brazos – Phosphorescent Blues (Music Review)
By Andrew Duncan • Dec 18th, 2009 • Category: Categories, Indie RockBrazos
Phosphorescent Blues
Autobus Records
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Link: http://www.myspace.com/brazosbrazos
There are things about this album that could make Brazos a big deal. But there are also things about this album that keep Brazos from being a big deal.
Hailing from the same sacred ground as American Analog Set and Midnight Movies, Brazos treads the fine line of delicacy and passion. Like them, Brazo’s songs are beautiful. The intro song into this album is promising as “My Buddy” emits like The Futureheads song if The Sea And Cake were performing it.
But that’s the problem, all of their songs are beautiful but only in a linear sense. There is very little movement in Martin Crane’s talent. Where “Avignon” is textbook Radiohead 101 and “Day Glo” doesn’t veer too far away except being a spunkier version of “We Understand Each Other,” a song the has the thriving force of being cut with a butter knife.
The pain is in Crane’s whine, and it does not do well for vulnerability or expression. I don’t feel any different at the end of this album than I did at the beginning. And although the lyrics and Crane’s knack for storytelling is par excellence, it gets lost in musical translation. Beyond a select few, I cannot differentiate one song from the next. I’m not talking Stepford Wives standards, but the similarities are too common to be a distinct release and what could be a talented band.
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Andrew Duncan is a journalist who has migrated to the forces of academia. He has written for various publications including Chord, Heckler, Readyset...Aesthetic, and a vast array of alternative press contributions. When not roaming the streets of Indianapolis, he is either addicted to KXCI, making music, or striving to watch every film listed on IMDB.
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