The Bravery – ‘Time Won’t Let Me Go’

It was only two years ago that The Bravery were tipped to slay everyone they came across, their synth heavy pop and cool manner making them look like surefire stars. Indeed, sell out gigs and a top 5 album followed but at the same time they were swiftly dismissed as Killers copycats/column-inch-adversaries and one trick ponies. Yet, while the maelstrom of hype that preceded their arrival was unjustified, so too was the critical backlash that followed, especially as their debut album had several fun pop gems on it. So it’s disappointing to report that they’ve changed tack entirely on ‘Time Won’t Let Me Go’, a dreary number that seems written with stadium rock in mind. “I never had a summer of 69” whines Sam Endicott, sounding as unenthusiastic as you can imagine.

The guitar lurches in for the inevitable solo, not breaking up the fact that this is tedious stuff all the way, a track that seems to have ripped the band’s previous fun and energy out of them, leaving a vacant by the numbers shell behind instead, that‘s only boosted by a decent interlude of ‘Ba, ba ba‘ halfway through. Perhaps their forthcoming second album will be better but this doesn’t bode well at all.

Released 18/06/07 on Loog Records