Brakes still have the same lurching drunk style; elegantly wasted as they stroll into your party with a hat full of ideas... literary pop music filled with credibility and bite - pennyblackmusic.co.uk
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Hold Me In The River was Edith Bowman's Record Of The Week on Radio 1 and Single Of The Week on Phill Jupitus, 6 Music. Also appears in 6 Music's Top 100 Singles of 2006
The video was played on MTV2's Spanking New section and Alex talked to the NME about directing it: click here to read. Watch Brakes perform the song live on the Album Chart Show here
Daily Southtown Who to watch in 2007: Brakes. These guys from Brighton, England, have released their sophomore effort and manage to seamlessly meld '60s garage rock with punk with '60s Bacharach-style pop and a good amount of sharp humor, as evidenced by the video for Hold Me in the River, which they shot themselves in Brighton.
Tiny Voices Brakes' new single is of no different quality from the majority of their overall output. And that's a good thing.
Clocking in at just two minutes, Hold Me In The River is a catchy, driving track that epitomises Brakes' sound. While Eamon Hamilton idiosyncratically yelps about "religious fervour, creationism versus Darwinism and Scarlett Johansson" (the band's own words), there is nothing in Brakes' sound that belies any exhibitionist tendencies. This is not meant to be a detraction to the band in any way. Hold Me In The River unashamedly provides good, simple indie rock music - something we don't get to hear very often as bands look to push their way up the radio playlists.
Brakes have been supporting The Killers on their recent European tour. I would have personally paid the astronomical ticket prices just to see this support band teach their American counterparts what a simple melody and bit of spirit can achieve. 8/10
Music News British band Brakes do justice in their track release Hold Me In The River. Catchy guitar riffs add to the upbeat, punk-rock groove. The 4-piece band's latest sound is developing and fresh with a quirky, depreciating style. Style is what they have going on in this single. A whirlwind of melodies and punchy, lyrics sung with appealing vocals. Dedicated to Scarlett Johansson, you lucky lady! Fun, frenetic and unique, the Prozac of pop and so easy to get hooked on. 4 Stars.
Stop Me's Top 100 Tracks Of 2006 "I woke up late and found my liberty lost, it had been written down in law as a security cost". Hold Me In The River is a wonderfully angry Punk-Pop delight. It's angry at the slow erosion of Britain's libertarian laws and it even finds time to name-check Scarlett Johansson.
Leeds Student Hold Me In The River has a certain uncluttered charm about it.
The Weekly Sweep Top 100 Singles Of 2006 Biting Undertones guitars frame Eamon Hamilton going all political, after an oblique fashion, as they attempt to pummel the listener into submission again in under two minutes.
mog.com/waggle (also includes the Chart Show video) Plain and simple, I dig the rock and roll. Keep it simple; keep it uncluttered, immediate, noisy, bombastic, and heart-felt. Lately, I am really liking the trend coming out of the UK of guitar-oriented rock. In 2005, I dug Art Brut's debut album, Bang Bang Rock and Roll and this year's release by former Blur guitarist, Graham Coxon's Love Travels at Illegal Speeds was just as tasty. I find these releases to be the perfect tonic to the bloated, over-produced, dancetronic bleep-blorp background noise currently topping the US charts.
Continuing in this six-string electricfest trend is Brighton, England's Brakes' album The Beatific Visions. The first single off this release is Hold Me In The River. Man, talk about a catchy guitar riff! C'mon, we've all experienced it: that electric three chord glee that lodges itself in your corpus callosum like some sort of sonic wedgie. To me this sums up the opening riff off Brakes first single. Give a listen and hail hail rock and roll.
The Bolton News Hold Me In The River is a loveable rogue of a song. Barely over two minutes long and catchy as hell, its crunchy motorway riffing is far removed from the angular post-punk aesthetic so omnipresent these last few years. Over the song's upbeat groove the off-kilter vocalist bounds through subjects as diverse as human liberties, the theory of evolution and Scarlet Johansen. Especially Scarlet Johansen. It's likely that this song will never achieve hit single status. Despite the winning grin plastered across every second, it's almost certainly too idiosyncratic and not taut enough to make it amid current trends. But it's a classic slice of pop all the same, one that deserves to be recognised.
Hold Me In The River played on December Soccer AM
Entertainment Manchester Here's a single that sounds incredibly familiar when it starts, and we can't tell whether it's just very derivative or whether we have actually heard it on TV adverts. Whatever, it's a typically impressive song from the ever-quirky Brakes.
stopme.wordpress.com "I woke up late and found my liberty lost, it had been written down in law as a security cost, twenty-eight days, I'm presumed guilty, I'm sure as evolution, I was not born guilty".
Hold Me In The River is the first single to be taken from Brakes brilliant new The Beatific Visions album. It's an unstoppable anthem raging against the slow erosion of Britain's libertarian laws and rights to free speech, including "Extraordinary-Rendition", I.D cards, and most specifically the 28 days/90 days detention debate. The serious and yet blackly comic lyrics are welded to an irresistible chugging rhythm, thudding Drums and visceral Guitar stabs that assault the ears. This is yet another contender for single of the year.
pennyblackmusic.co.uk Hold Me in the River is the closest Brakes have yet come to a fully fledged song. Sure, the same frantic nervous vitriol is still present and the track is still driven by choreographed explosions of acoustic guitar, but the piece clocks in at 2 minutes and 3 seconds, which by Brakes' standards is a marathon. Yet, despite its length Brakes still have the same lurching drunk style; elegantly wasted as they stroll into your party with a hat full of ideas.
Brakes now have more confidence and a developing style. They are shaping punk-rock for the twenty first century; literary pop music filled with credibility and bite. Eamon Hamilton sings with knowing irony, gauging the contemporary frailty of popular music and injecting it with a shot of urgency and exuberance. Virtually no musical artifice comes between the singer and audience as Brakes crash through a minimalist sound to communicate the most universal of ideas. The content is also frighteningly relevant, as if they were talking about your most recent attempts to paint a provincial market town bright red. Hints of irony and self deprecation litter their style, as they cast a knowing eye over the crowd. It's akin to the Streets or the Arctic Monkeys in their unique sense of satire, but without the self importance, cultural baggage and millions of column inches these artists have acquired.
A fellow critic suggested that he "wasn't convinced" by Brakes, but then that's not what they are aiming for. This is not a mighty artistic statement. How could it be at just two minutes long? So what if the style is lifted from Frank Black, or if over two albums Brakes have produced about 45 minutes of music. This is about blasting away nostalgia and pomp, about the democracy of punk music in sharing common experiences and firing some high quality chords in the process. Hold Me in the River is a catalyst for an explosion and shows a hidden depth of intent which is mirrored in the Brakes work. A band on the rise.
The Tripwire Brakes have recently released the video for the new single, "Hold Me In The River". The clip once again reminds us to never fuck with a boxer, as they will end up punching you in the face and stealing your car.
Hold Me In The River video, NME Christmas issue (Scan)
Director: Alex White We were going to have a couple of grand budget to do a video with a proper crew and everything, but we just thought "why not try and do it ourselves for a hundred quid?" in a very blase way. We just came up with more and more silly things that the main character could do as we shot it so it has a cartoon-like feel to it. To be honest, it was all just a laugh - I can't even believe anyone's paying attention to it, let alone playing it on MTV2.
Indie London Single Of The Week Brakes provide an excellent reminder of why you should go out and buy their latest album, The Beatific Visions with the release of this lively single Hold Me In The River. Kicking off with an ultra-sharp guitar riff, the track blasts out of the stereo like a lightning bolt amid a whirlwind of dizzying but endearing beats and melodies. The central guitar riff weaves cheekily in and out, disrupting the flow of the otherwise driving guitars, while the vocals are edgy in a punky sort of way. It's a firecracker of a start to the album and a welcome reminder of why Brakes are such a great little super-group.
CD Times Decent enough Clash-influenced effort from the BSP/ESP combo... Earnest and semi-anthemic.
Vanguard Online One of the highlights of Brakes' Beatific Visions album, this song has it all, changes in tempo, an amusing yet appealing voice and catchy guitars. The band claim it is a tribute to Scarlett Johansson, and who am I to argue? If you don't go the full hog and buy the album (I recommend you do!), at the very least get yourself Hold Me In The River.
normanrecords.com This record left our Phil feeling happy. BRAKES have a new one sided etched 7" out called Hold Me In The River. I want this to be bad so I can say Hold Me Down In The River til I drown so I don't have to listen to this again. Thus the review is born and the message is got across. Alas my great joke is unnecessary this time cos I quite like this chugging slab of indie rock... Comparisons??? They haven't come to me yet. Short, punchy and repetitive. Noice. Actually I can hear bits of Pixies in it. Is it me or does everything sound like Pixies at the moment?? If they hadn't reformed songs wouldn't sound like this at the mo.
killyourcoworkers.blogspot.com I've been a fan of Brakes ever since first hearing "Heard About Your Band" and then later "All Night Disco Party." Sure, they're not the most deep or artsy band in the world - but they're catchy and fun with their own unique sound. Frenetic sounding guitars and a quirky, squelching voice that reminds me a tad of Hefner- and they haven't changed it much at all from their debut album here with their next single "Hold Me In The River." And best part of all (at least in my mind) is that they tend to keep the length of their songs right around the two minute mark - just enough time to pull you into the song and yet still leaving you wanting more. And with their second album Beatific Visions, you might just find yourself satisfying that appetite.
Playlouder Single Of The Week Brakes have certainly come a long way since they appeared as a part-time breakaway movement from British Sea Power. There are three reasons why this single is brilliant. First up Eamon's voice is stronger and more individual than ever, stuttering and growling like a demented Steve Harley, secondly 'Hold Me in the River' has the strongest, most ass kicking riff of the day, and thirdly they name check Scarlett Johansson, and we luuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve her. Well done chaps, your ascension as a band-proper is complete and you are worthy recipients of the Single of the Week.
Hot Press Quite how this British Sea Power/Electric Soft Parade side-project became such a lauded concern is a bit of a mystery, yet Brakes have found themselves quite the name to drop of late. Hold Me In The River is more of the same and absolutely the better for it, a twisted power pop anthem that has echoes of the Pixies at their most gloriously perverse. All in under two minutes too. Fantastic.
sweepingthenation.blogspot.com In Shops Tomorrow (4th Dec) Seven inches of goodness abound, most notably Brakes' limited edition Hold Me In The River, the charging, seething one that opens The Beatific Visions, which you should all have. Also mentioned in their Weekly Sweep
FTC's Autumn Mixtape: the videos! With Hold Me In The River on the Album Chart Show (youtube)
thedownloader.co.uk What started out as a laugh among four mates has usurped any of their achievements in their day jobs. And rightly so, because as super groups go, people might look at each of the individual band members' CVs and comment that it doesn't read that super at all, which is where they would ultimately miss the point. Because it's these little anomalies folks that make Brakes super, and less than thirty seconds into this you're hooked like a fat perch on the jolly fisherman's line that's being held in the river until help arrives. Crap puns aside, this is yet another reason why projects within projects should be encouraged, as the individual parts that make it do sometimes turn out to be greater than the whole from where they emerged. Bouncily timeless.
Soccer AM Music November 2006 Hold Me In The River has featured on Soccer AM (on Sky Sports)
Also played on Steve Lamacq's Round Table on 3 November: Tracklist Guests included The Charlatans' Tim Burgess, The Holloways' Alfie Holloway and 6 Music's Eddie Piller.
Scores out of 40: Babyshambles - The Blinding 26, Brakes - Hold Me In The River 28.5, Ghost - Basic Instinct 25.5, I Was A Cub Scout - Pink Squares 31.5, The Rapture - W.A.Y.U.H. 24.5, Albert Hammond Jr - 101 35, Jarvis - Jarvis (album) 25.
Hold Me In The River review in NME (Scan) "Chugging Pop Wonderment". Eamon Hamilton has a tip for anyone wishing to lead a happier, more fruitful life: "try lying on the grass thinking of Scarlett Johansson" beams the Brakes frontman, and you know what? We tried it, and like much of what the Brakes do, it's natural Prozac. On Hold Me In The River, Brighton's finest sound brassy, breathless, and full of more beans than a half dozen Heinz factories. Guitars divebomb like candy-coloured Spitfires as Hamilton spells out his silly, surreal philosophies in a voice we can only pin as being somewhere between David Byrne and a friendly Muppet. It's all over just shy of the two-minute mark, but never fear, Brakes: you were never in danger of outstaying your welcome.
culturedeluxe.com Best song on the new album by a mile, the Brakes give you 1 minute and 59 seconds of sing-a-long-a-greatness. Strong riff, catchy lyrics, and a billion times more interesting than when Graham Coxon tries his hand at these tracks. Listen, repeat, enjoy.
puregroove.co.uk Hold Me In The River: The lead track from their amazing second album, purchasing this gives you a 1/1000 chance of having the band play a gig in your living room! They still sound as wonderful with melody and good time punch as ever before.
XFM.co.uk The wickedly infectious first single to be taken from their second album, The Beatific Visions and having recently supported The Killers, Brakes have been lauded as one of the hottest rock n' roll bands in the UK. Check out the hilarious small budget video for Hold Me In The River which was produced by the band themselves.
rock-city.co.uk Brakes mix their sounds a bit with instruments such as the organ, guitars, piano, drums and percussion. That alone states that there is something interesting about these guys. This has some fabulous guitar riffs that flitter all the way through. Hamilton delivers what is a faultless vocal performance that you could argue is aided by the distinctive style he has when singing. The only downside to this track is that it is only two minutes long, just as you start getting into it it's over. It is a shame that Hold Me In The River is so short because the song has that hook with the opening chord and things just go from strength to strength apart from the abrupt end.
icWales Blimey, talk about ambitious. Apparently self-styled indie 'supergroup' Brakes describe their new single thus: "It diatribes against religious fervour, creationism versus Darwinism, the loss of the presumption of innocence, and celebrates the screen beauty of Scarlett Johansson. Yeah". Whilst not quite as groundbreaking as their lofty agenda suggests this two minute one second of reverberating new wave styled power pop is more Johnathan Richman and The Modern Lovers than Stephen Hawking and The Big Bangs. Which let's face it is no bad thing.
xplosure.com
atomicduster.com T: Anticipation abounds. "Give Blood" was by FAR my favourite album of 2005, and has been hammered to death in both car and living room alike. As a result, it's one of those twitchy feelings I'm getting as I'm hoping I'm not going to feel let down. Happily, after hearing the single, I can say it's another top tune, beautifully brief with an interesting guitar loop and fascinating lyrics once more. I'm also delighted that they've bravely chosen to go somewhere different with their sound, at least where production is concerned anyway. Wonderful stuff. Again.
N: Our faith has been reinstated on playing this new number from Brakes. A band showing all just how it should be done. This song displays an energetic canvas with lyrics with open flashes of colour. 9/10
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