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For your delectation and education (and a chance for us to pretend that we're really cool) we have cobbled together a list of all that was magnificent musically over the last twelve months, based on a poll of the SoundsXP scribes. Looking down the list it tells us that 2006 was a good year for music but one not dominated by any one band or genre. Brakes fairly comfortably win the best live act award, having finished second in 2005. With their eclectic taste (hardcore punk to folk in an instant) and intense delivery, they are a band you really must see in 2007 if you have not done already. Blossoming from the chrysalises of British Sea Power and Electric Soft Parade, Brakes have already set a benchmark for innovative British indie music with their blistering first record Give Blood. You would say Brakes essentially do punk but for their second release, The Beatific Visions, they have taken to grasping at other genres like a hyperactive child in the village sweet shop. In this instance the aroma of Nashville and Southern culture is especially prevalent. Where fellow Rough Trade act Scritti Politti fused reggae and punk by gorging on the plump cadaver of roots music, Brakes have chosen to snack on the succulent breast of country and western. Even more than ever before, they are now a rabble-rousing knee-slapping rock and rolling country-pop-punk band. This is a band that does things by halves, but in a good way. Cheney, dedicated to war-monger Donald Rumsfield on this occasion, lasts just ten seconds long and consists entirely of the lyric "stop being such a dick". This punk ethic doesn't initially seem to be compatible with their country folk sound but the majority of country artists are clearly more punk than the straight-laced middle class troubadours that have recently claimed to be punk. I'm not looking at anyone, Sandi Thom. This is a theme that they are only too aware of. Heard About Your Band is a damning indictment of someone who talks shit and brags about sharing a taxi with Karen O. For your information, this clown has recently been outed as Dominic Masters of The Others. Most of the applause is reserved for the early material but a wily cover of Camper van Beethoven and latest single Hold Me In The River also draw almighty rounds of appreciative applause. Another big track Porcupine or Pineapple sees the diminutive lead singer launch a pineapple into the audience. Brakes seems an entirely inappropriate name for a band which is tearing up the fast lane. Their second album, The Beatific Visions, is an Album of the Year contender while the pop-punk brilliance of current single Hold Me In The River is such a top tune even Radio 1 can't ignore it. If the band were from a place like Glasgow or Liverpool there would be a wild and noisy welcome for this homecoming gig but Brakes are from Brighton. Maybe it's the lack of people born and bred in the city, maybe nearly everyone's a fellow muso and wishes they were on stage instead. Maybe we're all just moody gits. Whatever the reason, Brakes only got a warm hug when they deserved a big, wet, slobbery snog. The band are the embodiment of the saying "beggars borrow while geniuses steal". While their starting point is off-kilter country rock, riffs and rhythms are plundered merrily from a multitude of bands spanning Pixies to Status Quo even. Eamon "once of British Sea Power" Hamilton, Alex and Tom "Electric Soft Parade" White and Marc "Tenderfoot" Beatty are such talented musicians they create a cohesive sound from all these different styles. These abilities are combined with witty, insightful lyrics and a quirky sense of humour. Porcupine or Pineapple is a hilariously absurd anti-war anthem, while Spring Chicken is a brilliantly bizarre attempt to repopularise the twist. Hopefully, next time their home crowd will join in the fun. Leeds Cockpit: Eamon opened up with Hi How Are You? followed by Ring a Ding Ding before the band launch into some newer numbers, including Margarita and the mind blowing Cease and Desist from their excellent Beatific Visions album. Birmingham: The sound was excellent in a packed Bar Academy as the band performed stoically. Brakes performed the forthcoming single Hold Me In The River, If I Should Die Tonight and Porcupine or Pineapple featuring the now customary lobbing of a pineapple into the audience at the appropriate moment. London's Kings College: The band certainly rose to the occasion of this headline show in this fantastic small venue. Brakes have matured over the last few months, adding something extra to their trademark 100 mph micro songs. Surely, their continuing to perform at venues this small will be a very short lived affair indeed. When Brakes came on, which was almost instantaneous, the venue had stretched to its fullest capacity, packed with eager lovers of the British indie heroes. Then the shrills of panic came with opening song 'Pick Up the Phone', a ten second noise filled blast that does exactly what it says on the tin, a taster of more political antagonism yet to come. A fucking wake up call. Next, the sarcastic wailing of 'I Heard About Your Band', followed by the energetic grilling of 'Cheney' and the perfect song written genius of 'I Can't Stand To Stand Beside You'; one by one every song was a killer, even the country-fried tunes such as 'Jackson' were executed perfectly. No thrills and fancy bullshit, just a real band with a punchy, raw vibe, an amazing vocalist and bags of great tunes. 
On the back of the release of their second album, Brakes have stepped out of the shadow of a Killers support slot and into their own spotlight. Striding onstage, the band - singer Eamon Hamilton aside - look portlier than they did during their summer festival stint. However, the extra weight has lent their sound an added degree of power: it's volatile, but still buoyant, performing a Clash-like smash-and-grab on the audience. This intent is emphasised when the band puts aside the country charm of their latest album in favour of an opening volley of six songs taken from its uncompromising predecessor Give Blood.Opener Hi How Are You tears through the atmosphere like DIY plastic surgery bought on the Shopping Channel, charmingly presented but gloriously indiscreet. Ever the unruly child, Ring A Ding Ding drowns its Virginia Plain parentage in relentless feedback. And the bathtub. But it's I Can't Stand To Stand Beside You that channels this newfound aggression most successfully, guitarist Tom White living out the angry young man filtered through a Dinosaur Jr dream, ploughing his guitar through a sinewy thrash as potent as a sawmill possessed. Tom is in the mood. Tonight he's the one to warm the blood in Brakes' belly. It's his mood and design that steer the band devilishy and tantalisingly close to the precipice of ruin. But that's the point. It's his job to teasingly transform recognised songs into wreckless bluster before snapping the leash to pull them back on the rails, and back to order. And tonight, in the offhand quips to the crowd, he's loving it, a feeling that's quickly reciprocated. 
The crowd - boisterous, impulsive and for the first time since Soundgarden hung up their hairnets, slam dancing - is ignited by Tom's guitar drill in stark contrast to its stagnant pre-gig voyeurism. Also lighting the blue touchpaper but not standing well back is Eamon, who takes advantage of the venue's proximity to the political bully-boys running the country, songs like Margarita and Cease and Desist sounding all the more barbed and appropriate. Even the blink-and-you'll-miss-it confrontational chest-poking of Cheney gets an outing. Did you miss it? Oh well, no matter - good job they played it again.Brakes' focus has broadened with Beatific Visions - which is not to say that they've abandoned their one-minute detonations (see Porcupine or Pineapple), but what they have done, which is apparent in tonight's performance, is loosen the reins and explore more fertile ground. Two sides to a fifties musical coin are spun: If I Should Die Tonight, like the Penguins' Earth Angel, is a song to melt homecoming queens' hearts, whilst Spring Chicken is maddening rockabilly for all aspiring juvenile delinquents - like Cry-Baby Walker, Brakes are too young to be square. Comma Comma Full Stop punctuates the night's performance, drawing a line under the main set before the band shuffles offstage. The raucous applause brings Eamon back onstage and he changes tack in a split-second, performing Fell In Love With A Girl alone. This tender and reflective moment charms the crowd into silence - they heard about the band, but with just the singer in the spotlight, they manage to shut the fuck up. Eamon welcomes back the rest of Brakes for Jackson and they flick the switch from the heartstring tug back to the moshpit frug. Johnny Cash's ode to splitting town is the evening's joyous and nostalgic denouement, but just before turning into a band your parents would approve of, Brakes leave the stage with a parting shot of a pineapple launched into the audience. Eamon and co, consider yourself grounded. Some bands can do live, and some can't. Brakes can. They are good live because they put so much energy into their live performances - their records are good but aren't really representative of what they're like live. Maybe it is because they gig so much; Eamon in an interview said he did over 300 gigs last year. Perhaps surprisingly, the crowd was quite mature - more people with proper jobs and mortgages then skinny jeans and converse. First song, Hi How Are You is short, and not really meant to be taken seriously - it's about being annoyed by people at gigs. What I love about Brakes is that they have such a diverse library of songs. They have other short and random songs like this such as Comma Comma Full Stop, lasting just ten seconds. They have their gentle love songs, such as If I Should Die Tonight. They have country - most notably, a cover of Johnny Cash song Jackson. Sadly, when they played this song tonight they didn't get the help of Liela Moss of The Duke Spirit, who sang June Cash's parts on the album version. Their songs are short - the two albums combined are under an hour. This gave the gig a fast pace - which I enjoyed, although this could be an indication of my short attention span. What felt like just a few minutes in was All Night Disco Party - a regular player in more mainstream indie club venues. Again, on first listen you wouldn't be blamed for thinking it was different bands doing all of their songs. Not long after was my personal favourite, Porcupine Or Pineapple. It is Brakes dipping their toes into the political waters.  Photo by Elfy That is about as intelligent as the song goes, so you could argue that it is rather pointless; although they did dedicate the song to Donald Rumsfeld. They also had a pineapple on stage, which they chucked into the crowd, which is fantastic, obviously. "Last" song, was the previously mentioned Comma Comma Full Stop. The band left the stage, and in what must have been thirty seconds, lead singer Eamon reappears while his band mates have a cigarette, and does Fell In Love With A Girl. I think it was my favourite song of the night - being on his own made the song extra sweet and lovely. After this the band joined him for crowd's favourite, Jackson. Porcupine or pineapple? This gig was a little weird, and a little bit spiky but really sweet when you get into it - it just has to be pineapple. That is actually the worst thing that I have ever written, please ignore it. Brakes took to the stage, and were fucking wicked. I've seen Brakes many many many times (by my count 19 now) but this was truly the best time I have seem them. The whole venue was completely rammed and Brakes didn't disappoint. They kicked off the set with Hi How Are You before continuing to play tracks from Give Blood - Ring A Ding Ding, Heard About Your Band, and a fucking Excellent All Night Disco Party. They then started to play some songs from the new album - Margarita, If I Should Die Tonight & Hold Me In The River before they started to mix new and old tracks up - You're So Pretty, and an excellent cover of The Camper Beethoven track - Shut Us Down. They then played Beatific Visions and On Your Side before a double rendition of Cheney and then a storming version of Ceast And Desist... Afterwards they played Porcupine or Pineapple, which saw the pineapple getting launched into the crowd (and then curiously ended up back on stage by the end of the song) before the Brakes boys played The Most Fun and Spring Chicken before ending the set on NY Pie, and then Comma Comma Full Stop... Eamon came back on stage to play Fell In Love With A Girl solo and then was joined by the rest of the band to play Jackson...  Unlike some side projects, Brakes are not self-indulgent and do not use this as an excuse to pull a solo every thirty seconds. Instead, they make short sharp pop songs, and when I say short, I mean short. Most songs are lucky if they reach a minute and anything past three minutes is virtually unheard of. Although they are great on record, it's live when they truly excel and tonight is no exception. They kick off with Hi How Are You? a superb punk blast which lasts about forty seconds. Which is followed by their new single Hold Me in the River, a more relaxed, country-tinged pop song. They then run through the highlights from their debut (All Night Disco Party, Ring a Ding Ding and Pick Up The Phone) but tonight it's the new songs which really grip. The first album was the sound of a band with a lot of ideas messing around and having lots of fun. Whereas the new album is the sound of a band which has refined those ideas and matured a bit, but it still seems as if they're having a great time. And for that matter, so are the crowd. If you ask me, it's not the Brakes you need to be worrying about: just keep accelerating, boys! Having just released a fab new album, The Beatific Visions, they were on fine form in front a strangely subdued crowd. They whizzed through most of both albums, the short punky tracks off the first album such as Cheney, Heard About Your Band, and All Night Disco Party went down well with us in particular, and the new stuff, while a bit more, what music journalists like to call mature but what I'd say is just more toned-down, proved just as great in a live setting. They pretty much played like they always do, which is to say they were frantic and energetic and didn't stop for breath. Hold Me in the River and Porcupine or Pineapple received a lot of cheers, and I was pleased especially to hear my personal favourite, NY Pie as it was brilliant. I'm really liking their musical progression, into a sort of quirky country band. They don't try to sound American and use the twang to great effect while still sounding incredibly British and somewhat punk rock. They also still know how to write wickedly biting comic lyrics. Opening with Hi How Are You before rattling in typically breakneck speed through Ring a Ding Ding and latest single Hold Me In The River, it soon becomes glaringly apparent that Brakes are a special band. Eamon Hamilton's vocal may not be the greatest in the world, but my god, when the tunes are as sharp as this that doesn't matter one bit. Choice cuts from Give Blood are given a whirl, All Night Disco Party, What's In It For Me? and Cheney (dedicated to Donald Rumsfeld) are joined by Beatific Visions finest. The politically charged Margarita and the amazingly absurd Porcupine or Pineapple provide a perfect picture of the glorious paradoxical nature of the band. In one of the best line-ups we've seen recently, Brakes rise to the top almost effortlessly. Part rock, part punk, part country, the music of the Brakes is dark one minute, hilarious the next. Some songs are so short that if you breathe you miss one, eg; Comma Comma Fullstop. There's songs about food and animals ie; Porcupine or Pineapple, in which the band toss a pineapple into the crowd, while Hold Me In The River (available as 7 inch vinyl single) is a chugging, country-esque ditty that namedrops Scarlett Johannsen. While there's not much lyrical depth in the songs, they succeed with sheer enthusiasm, and simple minded cheekiness. After one of BRAKES gigs you leave with a grin on your face. With the odd exception, most of the people I know who go watching them are from the British Sea Power and Electric Soft Parade crews, but after the packed-out Cockpit it's a complete sell-out at the Roadhouse on Sunday. It was another exceptional performance from one of the bands of 2006. Set highlights were "Spring Chicken" (a song with a possibly even sillier chorus to find yourself humming than "Porcupine Or Pineapple") and the lovely country-pop "On Your Side". It is also worth noting that as well as being one of the best live acts in the country right now, Brakes are amongst the nicest people in music, ever, and their rise to both popular and critical success is absolutely deserved. They play Hold Me In The River, a pop-punk rumble, the Clash-meets-Modern-Lovers. Last year's All Night Disco Party - which features sirens and is warmly dedicated by Hamilton to "Saturday night in Leeds" - is a disco stomper with echoes of the Rapture. Songs can last several minutes or, literally, several seconds.  Photo by Cath A similar half-demented duality informs their lyrics. This is a band who are not afraid to lay into the Iraq war or, mystifyingly, hurl a pineapple into the audience. You can't help but wonder who the typical Brakes fan is, and whether he or she should seek medical attention. Unfortunately, there is no place for the sublime Mobile Communication, from their new album, Beatific Visions. Gig @ Cockpit last night was ace!! Support act Tiny Dancers were rather good. And they're from South Elmsall! but... Brakes were the sh*t!! Went into the Cockpit, first face I saw... EAMON!! Gave him a cheeky smile, and got him to sign my Beatific Visions cd! (see pics) Met rest of Brakes and watched support act with em!! Forgot to get a pic with Eamon I can't believe it!! Then Brakes took the stage! ONE OF BEST GIGS I'VE BEEN TO IN AGES!!! After all those warm-ups for Killers, Editors and Belle and Sebastian fans and festival appearances, it's brilliant to see the band headlining in front of a delightfully up-for-it crowd. And just how many excellent songs have they got? "Hi How Are You" straight into "Ring A Ding Ding"; a double dose of "Cheney", the absolutely gorgeous "If I Should Die Tonight", rumoured future single (and so it should be) "Cease And Desist", "Pick Up The Phone", "Porcupine or Pineapple"... yes, the latter might still divide opinion amongst fans (me I love it) but its perplexing titular question is now available on T-shirts (complete with pictures of the spiky-spiky choices, in case you, er, forgot which was which) and one lucky (?) audience member will be going home with a pineapple tonight after Tom White launches it crowdwards. That's Brakes for you though, a bloody good fun band. Although without the dumb factor often associated with fun punk-pop: Eamon's lyrics are quite outstanding, as he sings of politics and love and the music scene and daft nights out with equally sharp wit and observation. For where the band's coming from, however, you need look no further than their regular covers - "Shut Us Down" is Camper Van Beethoven's manifesto for indie bands everywhere, whilst Johnny Cash's "Jackson" always gets the crowd dancing and tonight is no exception. Finishing as ever with "Comma Comma Comma Full Stop" they left everyone in the packed venue on a high... blog.myspace.com/janpavel Brakes returned triumphantly to the Glasgow stage fresh from supporting the Killers at the Carling Academy. The assembled parts of Electric Soft Parade, British Sea Power and Tenderfoot have rapidly acquired a fervent fanbase and tonights sell out crowd shows how far they have come in a relatively short period of time. Their debut album 'Give Blood' seems to have been a slow burner but with the support of Radio 1 and Edith Bowman the new album 'The Beatific Visions' looks set to propel them from cult to cool. In a selfish way I hope that doesn't happen but there is no doubt everyone here tonight is clued up as they launch into the ferocious 'Hi How Are You?' The first song of the night sparks a mass sing-a-long notably at the line "Won't you shut the fuck up/Am a just trying to watch the band" on their ode to people who don't stop yacking at gigs. The next couple of songs are the reason why I fell in love with this band, 'Ring A Ding Ding' is one of the best openers to a debut album you are ever likely to hear and 'Heard About Your Band' is a an absolute stormer of a track with it's line about a dickhead boasting to Eamon how he knows "the girl from Sleater Kinney" and that he "shared a cab with Karen O" One of the things that may hold them back from world domination is their scathing views on politicians such as their 10 second outburst of "Cheney Cheney! Stop bein such a dick" Played not once but twice tonight, and how ironic was it that a giant bumbling American was asked to count them in with a 1-2-3-4, only to offer a vacant stare in return. A mixture of funny and romantic would be a good way to describe the rest of their set with the heartfelt 'Isobel' and 'If I Should Die Tonight', played against the ludicrous, yet somehow inspiring, 'Porcupine or Pineapple' and 'Spring Chicken'. There is also absolute carnage when they play dancefloor favourite 'All Night Disco Party', cue lots of people, myself included, bouncing around like a loon! The beauty of a Brakes set is that as the songs are all relatively short you do manage to hear pretty much everything you want to including the sublime 'The Most Fun' and 'NY Pie'. Sadly this means there is no room for perhaps their longest, and finest, song 'I Can't Stand To Stand Beside You' A fitting end to the night is provided though with their version of Johnny Cash's 'Jackson', sadly there is no Leila Moss on show but it goes down a treat regardless. However it wouldn't be a Brakes gig without a 'Comma Comma Comma Comma Full stop' to round things off and they do so with some style. blog.myspace.com/tooeasilydistracted I was very impressed with Brakes, they were more rocking than the albums and put on a good show. They were a lot less countrified than I thought they would be, and had the noisy rock guitars going. Most well known for their dance/indie crossover track All Night Disco Party and its remixes that go down a treat in clubs, Brakes actually deliver upbeat humorous country-punk most the time. Porcupine or Pineapple? shouts Eamon Hamilton (either was to be provided on the rider) and as we see the latter held up and shook by a happy punter in the crowd, we can rest assured this evening we aren't taking life too seriously. As well as tracks from their debut Give Blood, we're treated to the new single Hold Me In The River and other new material from The Beatific Visions. To finish off the night they deliver a splendid version of Johnny Cash's Jackson and a four second encore. When they said leave them wanting more, Brakes deliver, even if it is tongue-firmly-in-cheek. thatidiotchrischopping.blogspot.com The headliners were on electric form, mixing sprightly country rock and vein bulging pop-punk behind lead-singer Eamon Hamiltons vicious yelps. With several tunes clocking in at under a minute Brakes play most of their two albums and throw in a Camper Van Beethoven cover for good measure... Set highlights include the aggressively witty Heard About Your Band and Cheney, which gets played twice in a row. At their most tuneful - Cease and Desist, NY Pie - the band recalls the energy and chiming melodicism of Ticket to Ride Era Beatles and as such they mean little to the twenty first century pop zeitgeist. Still, Brakes reassure that a traditional four piece rock band can still create a buzz and send you out into the cold night with a dopey grin on your face. ... they've all crammed in early, just to get a bit more value out of it - I've never seen so many people in to watch an opening band here. They've come for some Glamorous Indie Rock'n'Roll - but first, some decidedly unglamorous indie country punk. Standing in the A4 sized patch of stage that's not curtained off, with his bandmates clustered around him, Eamon Hamilton looks so little that the absrasiveness of Brakes seems to take some of the crowd by surprise; as the quiet verse of starting point "Hi How Are You?" erupts into the snarled "Won't you shut the fuck up, I'm just tryin' to watch the band!" some chattering not far behind us does indeed quieten.  Straight into the glam-bouncy pop of "Ring A Ding Ding" and this gloriously mismatched support seem to be winning the crowd over. And, er, promptly losing them again by chucking in "a nice little country dance tune" (crowd reaction: bemusement); ten second shouty political diatribe "Cheney" followed by thirty second shouty political diatribe "Pick Up The Phone" (crowd reaction: mild discomfort) and worst of all telling them they're not as loud as the crowd in Wolverhampton. Now nobody likes being unfavourably compared to Wolverhampton, do they, even if it might be true. Still one of the many wonderful things about Brakes is how they always look like they're having a thoroughly excellent time playing their catchy little tunes, and from the deranged "Porcupine Or Pineapple" to the gorgeous country ballad "If I Should Die Tonight" there are plenty more reasons to love them. "This one's called Comma Comma Comma Full Stop" shouts Eamon, and their final tune's been and gone whilst half the crowd are still trying to work out what he's on about. "Now I want you to scream six times as loud as that for the Killers..." With tickets selling out in under five minutes way back in September, Manchester crammed into the Apollo as The Killers brought Sam's Town to Our Town. However, first up our Brighton four-piece (and bona fide 'supergroup') Brakes who get the pleasure of warming up an already-excitable Apollo audience with their own unique brand of incendiary stomping and ultimately indefinable musical madness. Sleeves rolled up and ready to go, singer Eamon Hamilton (previously found in a tin helmet battering a keyboard in British Sea Power) bellowed out an assortment of quick fire provocative punk rock-come country barn dance- come God- knows- what- but- you've- never- heard- anything- quite- like- it- in- my- life- before songs. The South coast quartet, due to play the Roadhouse next month are quite impossible to force into any pre-existing musical pigeonhole, yet somehow seem to capture the imagination of the audience with highlights being the anti war assault; "Porcupine Or Pineapple" and the bluesy county rock tones of Hold Me In The River. A band capable of going from the sublime to the ridiculous in one quick chord change, Brakes end with the rousing three second (yes, that's three second) ironic rant Comma Comma Comma Full Stop leaving the crowd confused, yet thoroughly entertained. A band that seems to exist quite outside of normal conventions but certaintly one with a bright future ahead.  The set was short but sweet - with Brakes playing a mixture of songs old and new - Heard About Your Band kicking off the set... They played a few songs off the new album - Spring Chicken & Hold Me In The River as well as a few of the old favourites - All Night Disco Party, Ring a Ding Ding, etc. They ended their short set on Comma Comma Comma Full Stop. Twice. FOPPs seem to be growing at a staggering rate. From the shoebox near Cambridge Circus they have expanded to Camden and now this FOPP megastore on Tottenham Court Road. Instead of clearing a bit of space between the racks, they have a purpose built stage area in the cafe and bar (yep, a bar in a record shop) downstairs. There are about 100 people to witness this in-store promotional appearance by Brakes, a side project for various members of British Sea Power and Electric Soft Parade, a sort of British Raconteurs. My only previous acquaintance with them was at this year's Electric Garden festival. This session is played as a full electric gig and the band do not seem to hold back just because of the intimate surroundings. They are good challengers for the "How Many Songs Can We Cram Into The Allotted Time Award" (currently held by the Ramones). I lose count but they must get through the best part of 15 songs during the half hour set. Admittedly some of them are short. Very, very short (this seemed to be the most notable thing I remember them from the last time I saw them) Cheney (dedicated today to Donald Rumsfeld) clocks in at about 7 seconds and they play it twice as the count in was botched the first time by a member of the audience. Even this is an epic compared to set closer Comma, Comma, Comma, Full Stop which probably lasts all of 2 seconds. There are a few more lengthy compositions, All Night Disco Party and Porcupine Or Pineapple being the pick. At times they resemble Pixies / Crimea or a freaked out REM and I suppose anything that stems from the British Sea Power school of music is going to be a bit eccentric. Crazy but accessible and quite compelling to watch and all free! The Warehouse Project is one of those ideas which must have sounded fabulous on paper. After all, what could be cooler-than-thou than watching a load of excellent bands play in an old Northern brewery in the shadow of the Strangeways tower until 4am? Well, call me old fashioned, but I can name at least ten different ways in which I would like to spend my Thursday evening that don't involve paying four quid for a pint in a less than salubrious area of Central Manchester on a freezing cold November night. Praise the heavens then for Brakes. Over the past few years, Brakes have been feted as many things by the music press, mainly due to their love of making songs whose average length is around 60 seconds. However, there is one thing which they most undeniably are. Damn good. Sardonically cool and with a look about them which intimates that they are not the kind of band to take any prisoners, they are adept at producing music which as short, sharp and frenetic as it is quirky. And in the midst of an evening where there are a few too many trumped up egos taking up the standing room, a portion of well directed ire is just what the doctor ordered. Tonight we are treated to a few choice cuts off their new album, The Beatific Visions, which, although they sound meatier and more polished than the material off their debut, are still filled with the kind of anger which can light up a room with a single chord. By the time they launch into the superb All Night Disco Party, it doesn't sound so much as a recommendation as more of a command. And with a nationwide tour beckoning in December, it would be very foolish to not expect them to light up dance floors across the country this winter. "WHYWON'TYOUSHUTTHEFUCKUPI'MTRYINGTOWATCHTHEBAND" screams Eamon of Brakes, veins in his cueball popping as he launches into the first song, which quickly slams into the magnificent Dominic Others diss 'Heard About Your Band' (has anyone ever managed to make "Electrelane" sound so venomous?), and twenty-second debut single 'Pick Up The Phone'. Brakes certainly know how to get themselves noticed, even in a nightclub ram-jammed with the randy. Whooops, and there's 'Cheney' (the one that goes CHCHCHHCHCHCHEY STOPBEINGSUCHADICKWHUMP!"). After which Brakes set settles down a little, delivering their rock & roll bounced off Eamon's slightly grumpy, vaguely love-lorn persona. You get the feeling that Brakes new material, slightly calmer than the old and embracing some of the most trad genres around, loading them up with harmonies and letting the whole ride on tight musicianship, wit and charm; might see Brakes reaching an even wider audience. And besides, there's always 'All Night Disco Party'. In a world awash with 'indie rave', it's worth noting that this song done by baldies is one of the finest dancing ditties done with guitars of recent times, and tonight's setting of Trash, the place where guitars and vigorous dancing did so much to overcome their animosity, feels apt indeed. 
Information was, it has to be said, scant. A tip-off from Brakes that they'd be playing somewhere in Manchester tonight. A date and venue listed on The Longcut's Myspace page. On the Warehouse Project website there's an address to e-mail for free tickets, so we do. Two of us get no reply, one gets four tickets and another six; there's no rhyme or reason to it. The bunch of Longcut fans in Sinclairs beforehand have 16 spare places between them. So armed with an email print-out we arrive at the venue to see a number of police more usually associated with a football match. Are they expecting a big crowd then?There aren't that many people inside. It's a cavernous space, literally a warehouse with a stage at one end and a bar at the other. A bar where the cheapest drink - a well known brand of vodka whose promotional extravaganza this is - costs three quid a shot, and the advertising screens' continual references to "the workers" and socialism are more than slightly at odds with the knowledge that not too many months ago a large number of workers lost their jobs here, when Boddingtons uprooted the former Cream Of Manchester to Wales, or somewhere. Funnily enough there's no Boddies on sale. The only beer, a bottled lager, is four quid. Oh, and it's really, seriously cold. Brakes look cold when they come onstage, and at first there's quite a space in front of them, although a handful of fans are jumping about in it and it soon starts to fill up as their unashamedly indie-ish but sparkling little pop tunes fly past. Some of the newer material even outstays the two minute mark and with their second album they've finally shaken off any remnants of side-project status and matured as songwriters without losing any of their energetic lo-fi appeal. Picks of the new stuff are the Ramones-meets-C86 "Cease And Desist" and the speed-punk-pop "Porcupine Or Pineapple"; there are more of their lovely little country tunes as well, and plenty of shots from debut album "Give Blood", little over a year old and now rightly regarded as a bit of an underground classic. They finish, as ever, with the ten second blast of "Comma Comma Comma Full Stop" and it doesn't feel quite as cold. As Virtual Festival's Chris McCormick put it as he introduced the night (with founder Steve), "We do websites, you guys put on events, so let's see where this goes". And, inevitably, it went in slightly chaotic fashion, kick-started by the suitably erratic, unpredictable and totally wonderful Brakes. Opening with Hi How Are You - perhaps with a subtle dig at the chattering arrivees with it's chorus line "Won't you shut the fuck, I'm just trying to watch the band" - the set included first live airings of new material from their forthcoming album The Beatific Visions, including the pondering and pounding Porcupine Or Pineapple. 
Brighton's Brakes dazzled a Myspace friendly crowd at Kilburn's The Luminaire last night with their country-punk antics. It was a night of great new music with Blood Red Shoes providing a truly memorable performance before hand, but when Brakes opened with the 30 second punch in the face of Hi How Are You you knew this was a band with more experience and confidence than anything that had gone before. Their timing was tight, their guitars loud and the shaved head of front-man Eamon Hamilton repeatedly displayed a near to bursting vein. Although old favorites like Heard About Your Band and All Night Disco Party from Give Blood sounded fantastic and caused frenzied cheers from the crowd, the songs from the new album Beatific Visions seemed fuller and more focused in comparison.Album openers Hold Me In The River and Margarita had might and weight that made the blink and you'll miss them punk ditties seem like musings of a band long gone, but the soon-to-be live favorite was the vein throbbing, spit propelling onslaught of Porcupine or Pineapple?. Introduced as one of the songs they recorded on a recent trip to Nashville the line "Who won the war, what the fuck is it for?" was delivered with such jaw dropping venom that you wonder how these boys were received in those hallowed lands. All in all Brakes displayed an energy and urgency that was great to behold in such an intimate venue and with a band full of look a-likes ranging from Goldie on vocals, an allergic Pete Doherty on guitar, Will Ferrell on bass and Chris Martin on drums Brakes put on one hell of a show that will keep your ears ringing and bleeding for some time to come. Brakes came on stage just before 10pm, and although it's only been a few months since I've seen them, I throughly enjoyed them. They played a lot of stuff from Give Blood - as well some new material from The Beatific Visions - Cease + Desist and On Your Side were the pick of the bunch. They pretty much played everything of Give Blood - starting off the set with Heard About Your Band, as well as playing Cheney, (only once sadly) All Night Disco Party, Ring a Ding Ding, NY Pie, the whole Brakes Caboodle. Halfway thru NY Pie, Tom Decided to jump offstage and play his guitar... After NY Pie, they played Comma Comma Comma Full Stop - with Eamon asking me to count them in. I gladly obliged. The highlight of the set, and start of the Encore saw Eamon coming onstage on his own singing Fell In Love With A Girl, and then they finished by playing another new song - Spring Chicken. |
