Send "The Bravery " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Nobody remembers Louis XIV, right? So the Bravery are just about the last quasi-big rock band anyone might expect to come within downtown sneering distance of a noteworthy hit by a bona fide pop starlet. But here we are: Sam Endicott, frontman for these oft-abused New York electro-rockers, co-wrote Shakira's Italo-crazed "She Wolf". He didn't, however, write the lyrics.New Order-style bass lines like the one on "She Wolf" could practically be the story of this guy's career. They anchored the Killers-lite dance-rock of the Bravery's self-titled 2005 debut-- particularly its best song, "Honest Mistake"-- and turned scarce when the band dialed back the synths for rootsier wannabe-Brit mope on disastrous 2007 follow-up, The Sun and the Moon. While that synth-pop bounce is back on Stir the Blood, so are the group's shortcomings. Some are familiar, and some are worse than even the most hardened mid-2000s NME skeptics could've anticipated. Endicott's voice still alternates between operatic Ian Curtis croon (remember Elefant?) and adenoidal Robert Smith whine (remember Stellastarr*?). He still sings songs that manage to evoke greats from bygone eras without any of the greatness: "Baby, we were born to be adored," repeats glumly hooky synth-rock opener "Adored", neatly desecrating the most famous choruses from Bruce Springsteen and the Stone Roses in a single refrain. "Born again" stomper "Song for Jacob" contains a sideways allusion to the Smiths' Louder Than Bombs, and make-out anthem of sorts "She's So Bendable" has that "How Soon Is Now" guitar wobble. Soma-dropping dystopia "I Have Seen the Future"-- in which the band accurately concedes, "I am a nerve ending without a brain"-- might as well be called "I have become aware of the title and primary neologism from Brave New World." Druggy (I guess?) finale "Sugar Pill" avers, "I am blissed out/ I have kaleidoscope eyes." Shakira this isn't....full text |
| Spin |
| The Bravery, who emerged in the wake of the early-aughts New York post-punk revival that spawned Interpol and the Strokes, are still positively 14th Street. Their petulantly plagiaristic third album -- mired in singer Sam Endicott's uncharismatic Robert Smith–in-a-wind-tunnel moan (imagine that hair) -- continues to stuff downtown Gotham streets into predictable, rhyming-dictionary couplets. "Red Hands and White Knuckles" notably swoons for Tompkins Square Park, but no matter how many historic locales the band invokes, their New Order and Killers castoffs still sound like the work of meek tourists....full text |
| Decoymusic |
| I’ve been listening to this album for about two weeks now, and I haven’t been able to write a word about it for a few reasons. Although I am familiar with The Bravery I’ve never listened extensively to more than the opener of their self-titled debut, the song "An Honest Mistake." In reviewing Stir the Blood I attempted to rectify this by getting my hands on copies of their debut and sophomore releases, but to no avail. As well as my general lack of knowledge of the band, Stir the Blood plays like one 35 minute electro-rock track, and I often found myself at the beginning of a Bright Eyes album (the next in my iTunes library) and unsure how I’d gotten there. So this review is steeped in my ignorance of previous releases and based upon only what they’ve done in 2009. Fresh angle or lazy reviewer? So I found myself staring at my iTunes library wondering what to do. From my limited knowledge of the band I am expecting heavily synthesised rock tracks laden with screaming guitars and somewhat distorted vocals... needless to say this album cover catches me off guard. Through the first play of opening track "Adored," everything returns to within my realm of understanding. A crackling bass line reminiscent of The Prodigy launches into a romanticized ballad of togetherness through the hardest of times. Sound lame? It’s not. "Every single day / I can feel it chip-chip-chipping away / if only we could run-run from this swine / oh baby we are wasted in this time," bridges the verse to the chorus of a truly great album opener. From here, however, the album meanders through a very formulaic set of tracks. "Song for Jacob," the first single "Slow Poison," and all the tracks following through until "The Spectator" could simply be extra verses in the life of the tragic romance of the opening track. Though it is here, at track seven, that there is a discovery of ingenuity, or perhaps the influence of some outspoken Bravery member. Although the familiar electronic drum kit kicks the listener statically along, an acoustic guitar and rhythmic "ooh / oooh / ooh" overlays and attracts attention that may have wandered away since "Slow Poison" or "Hatefuck." It seems to speak of watching the world of one man, as well as the existence of mankind, as it crumbles around his and our feet. The song is easily the highlight of the album, as it obviously speaks of something close to the band with true emotion and honesty. "And the bells go / chime chime chime / ticking ticking time / I am a spectator / I am in this world but not of it / I am a spectator," regards a disposition of one objectively watching this world as its days count down....full text |
The Bravery lyrics
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