Brakes - 'The Beatific Visions' (Rough Trade) Released 06/11/06

Brakes are a quintessentially British band who met in 2004 back with their second album on Rough Trade. Fronted by Eamon Hamilton with brothers Tom and Alex White of The Electric Soft Parade and Mark Beatty formerly of Tenderfoot they have a wealth of musical talent at their disposal.

‘Hold Me In The River’ sounds like a good old fashioned tune, New Wave meets punk it bounces along in a exuberant fashion. Equally excitable ‘Margherita’ is slightly Pixiesque, with choppy, erratic vocals and a stop-start rhythm. Telling the tale of Magherita with her ‘lovely hair’ flirting with all the boys like a Lolita.

Taking an ill advised trip into country music ‘If I Should Die Tonight’ sounds very Simon and Garfunkel, twee, but not in a good way. The sleepy musings of ‘Mobile Communication’ touring with bands like Belle and Sebastian has definitely rubbed off.

‘Spring Chicken’ sounds like The Crimea doing the entertainment at a junior school dance, at once naïve and macabre. More sedate and simple ‘Isabel’ is a short and sweet acoustic love song that follows into the slightly sickly sugar coated title track.

‘Beatific Visions’ is all over the place at times showing real class on the sharp punk rock of ‘Cease And Desist’ and becoming bizarrely juvenile on ‘Porcupine Or Pineapple’. Songs like the jangling country of ‘On Your Side’ and the Tom McCrae style lament of ‘No Return’ show real progress from their previous most popular hit ‘All Night Disco Party’.