Press Reviews July-October 2009

“Rampaging power and rattling good tunes" 4/5 Daily Mirror

“[it’s the] desire to put foot-to-peddle and make a gosh darned racket that sets ‘Touchdown’ apart…a leap forward” NME 8/10

"Everything here sounds fresh, powerful and exhuberant" Word

"Deserves to be played very loud at every opportunity" Maxim

"Fizzing witrh energy and wearing it's Pixies hat with pride, Touchdown is a blast of brain-scrambled indie rock" 4/5 Q Magazine

"Touchdown lands Brakes in a world inhabited by monstorous riffs and melodies to charm the aliens from the skies" 4/5 The Sun

"Brakes best record to date" ****Stool Pigeon

"Packed with potent hooks and enveloping melodies, this is a superb example of alt-indie at it's best" 8/10 Rocksound

“Fast, furious and fun” Musicweek

"Brillinatly bonkers" Big Issue 4/5

Earfarm.com - Interview - 8. July 2009

EAR FARM: So… where are you living?

EH: Over in Park Slope. But my wife used to live on 22nd, which is why I know this area a bit. And yeah, we’re pregnant so that’s why we moved to Park Slope.

EAR FARM: Oh really!? Congratulations… do you know the sex of the baby and do you have names picked out already?

EH: Yeah yeah, it’s a girl. [Ed. note: Eamon and his wife just recently welcomed their new baby daughter into the world earlier this week, official EAR FARM congratulations to the whole family!] And we have a few names picked out. We were thinking of calling her Jackson, after the song - because you know we both love it - and then fucking MJ has to die and it’s like “oh no! Ruined that one…” [laughter]

Read the whole interview here.

Diva Magazine - 'Touchdown' review - June 2009

4/5 stars

Brighton quartet Brakes have everything you could want from a band: energy, homour and brilliant pop songs.A thirty-six minute treasure chest, their new album includes hypnotic pop songs with sweet choruses and psychedelic instrumentation, killer rock songs with irresistible riffs, two minute grunge tracks with relentless guitars and sweet counrty gems with honeyed vocals. In short, a genuinely eclectic album that should appeal to Nirvana and Johnny Cash fans alike.

Artrocker Magazine - 'Don't Take Me To Space (Man)' review - June 2009

Author: Martyn Boyle

Brakes' latest offering reminds me of the early days of Britpop: fast, skuzzy, exuberant and carefree. This is rock'n'roll in its purests form. 'Don't Take Me To Space,(Man)' has an air of The Super Furry Animals' 'Do Or Die' in terms of both its musicality and it's out-there lyrical approach.

The World - 'Two Shocks' review - June 2009

Formed in 2003 from associates of Electric Soft Parade and British Sea Power, Brakes have made three albums but have the kind of reputation that in another era would have attracted the compound adjective "hard-gigging". In the United States they have been compelled to trade under the name "Brakesbrakesbrakes" in order to distinguish them from another Brake-like aggregation.
From the album Touchdown

R2 Rock'n'Reel - 'Touchdown' review - May/June 2009

Author: Toby Rogers

5/5 stars

Brighton-based supergroup Brakes impress once again with this extraordinary blast of 60s-tinged rock'n'roll. Referencing The Beatles, The Byrds, Ride and Smashing Pumpkins, the quartet's third LP is a riotous journey through the last four decades of left-field guitar-pop. From the wry psych-rock of 'Don't Take Me To Space(Man)' to the catchy bubblegum of 'Oh! Forever', it's a delightfullt diverse indie gem.
Formed in 2003 by Thomas and Alex White (The Electric Soft Parade), Eamon Hamilton (British Sea Power) and Marc Beatty (The Tenderfoot), Brakes released their debut album, Give Blood, in 2005 to widespread critical acclaim. Album of the year in Rough Trade's shops, it was a fine introduction to the band. Now signed to local South Coast imprint Fat Cat (home to Frightened Rabbit and The Balky Mule), the quartet continues to go from strength to strength.
A furious blend of folk, punk, country, grunge, pop and soul, Touchdown is Brakes' most well rounded album to date. Bold, intelligent and enjoyable, it's the work of a band operating at the peak of its creative powers. Both fiercely original and knowingly referential, it has the makings of a contemporary Brit-rock classic.

Rocksound - 'Touchdown' review - May 2009

Author: Rachel Kellehar

Having played close to 1.000 gigs over the past seven years, it's a wonder that Brighton's Brakes have managed to survive without imploding, let alone deliver three standout albums since 05. 'Touchdown', their latest opus and first on hometown label Fat Cat, is yet another slice of the kind of intellectual pop pie that has so deservedly garnered them global acclaim. As soulfully personal as it is playfully obtuse, the Brisith quartet showcase their ability to dip into indie, shoegaze, country and rock'n'roll with reckless, yet perfectly balanced, abandon. Packed with potent hooks and enveloping melodies, this is a superb example of British alt-indie at its best.

The Stool Pigeon - 'Touchdown' review - May 2009, Issue 21

Three albums in and Brakes mainman Eamon Hamilton has buggered off across the Atlantic with a new bride. But while conjugal bliss is written all over this deeply romantic record,, Brakes have upped the sonic ante with a record of blisteringly feisty tracks that sets their formerly rustic bayrick ablaze. This is Brakes' best record to date, but here's hoping geographical distance doesn't mean Touchdown is the final time they score.

Buzz - 'Don't Take Me To the Space (Man) review - May 2009

Author: JE

A couple of fine indie tunes with a pointlessly brief song sandwiched in the middle (Supplier, Demander, A Chicken Or An Egg). A band who may curry favour in Cardiff, regular gigs under their belt there, need no such skewed scoring system: lead track and main accompaniment 7th Seal make you await the album.

The Sun: Hot Tracks - 'Don't Take Me To Space (Man)' review - 17th April 2009

Monumental grungy guitars make this a nuclear explosion of a song set to blast these Brighton heroes into the spotlight.

AU Magazine - Story of the video - March 2009

Band: Brakes
Title: 'Hey Hey'
Producer: Nick Power

BRIGHTON INDIE GENTS BRAKES ARE SOON TO BE BACK WITH THEIR THIRD ALBUM, TOUCHDOWN. THE VIDEO FOR THE ROLLICKING LEAD SINGLE 'HEY HEY' TELLS THE STORY OF ONE BAKED GOOD'S QUEST TO SAVE ALL OF DOUGHNUTKIND FORM THE GREEDY MOUTHS OF SWEET-TOOTHED HUMANS. NICK POWER FROM PRODUCTION COMPANY ISEETIGERS GIVES US THE INSIDE STORY.

How did you get involved with making the video?
I made an unofficial video for the Brakes two years ago for 'Spring Chicken', a live recording with a stop-animated character - me - dancing in pants in the corner. It must have hit a chord.

Did you have free rein on what you wanted to do with it?
Pretty much, yes. Working with Dave Alexander, the director, we quickly produced a storyboard and they liked it despite the lack of pants.

How did you come up with the idea of the vengeful giant doughnut?
We felt out of all the round confectionary products, doughnuts got a bad deal - not regarded as a cake, often looked down on. But doughnuts have feelings too! The rolling idea matched the Brakes sound perfectly.

Where was the video filmed?
There were two rolling days in Brighton. We wanted to avoid all the obvious sights to make it look like it could happen in any town. It could, you know . . .

Eamon seems to enjoy stuffing those doughnuts into his mouth. How many did he get through?
All Brakes threw themselves into it but it was Eamon that kept asking whether we wanted to do another take.

Did the video turn out as you expected it to?
It was a quick turnaround from treatment to final edit in five weeks so we're very happy with it. Luckily, Sophie Colbert (Art Production) was able to make three brilliant giant doughnuts in four days and the second day's filming I became Synthetic Doughnut Rolling Olympic Champion.

Hey Hey is released march 2nd.

Watch the video online at www.tinyurl.com/brakesheyhey

www.myspace.com/brakesband

The Mirror - 'Hey Hey' review - 27th February 2009

Excellent hit-the-ground-running-and-chase-them-up-against-the-wall guitar rock from a band patently refusing to put on the brakes. It's the sort of swaggering and scouring attack that's simple, joyfull and totally infectious. Praise be!

XYZ - 'Hey Hey' review - February 2009

It's been far too long since local favourites Brakes slapped us round the face with their incalculably bonkers mix of anthems and counrty-hued ballads. Newly signed to FatCat records, "Hey Hey" is the first release from fourthcoming album "Touchdown" and stars a huge guitar riff and a wild claim that it's "a Tarzan day". After you've finished listening to this short, sweet, testosterone punch you may indeed feel the urge to head for the nearest swinging vines, beat your chest and chum up with a chimp.

ETC Magazine - 'Touchdown' review - 10th February 2009

Maybe you haven't noticed, but things are getting pretty crazy in this world of ours. For one, there's a massive global financial crisis going on that's making people question everything - to be honest, it's freaking out the general public. Brighton indie-legends, Brakes, can see all the crazy energy being released into the universe by these worrying, doubting people and they've decided to throw a net around it and put it in their album.
Touchdown, their third album, tells a million different stories: out of control bank overdrafts, conspiracy theories and the end of capitalism...it may sound a bit depressing/heavy, but Brakes wrap it up into fun, catchy pop-rock tunes that'll have you singing along in no time. And they've got a great sense of humour about it all - the world may be going nuts, but that's not going to stop them from coming up with an infectious chorus to go down with it.
And it's just not the lyrics that stand out on Touchdown - the music is fantastic and ever-changing, from heavy guitar riffs to rollicking country to glossy pop. It's just a really good album and it makes us think that Brakes should be much more famous than they are at the moment.

The Star - 'Touchdown' review - 5th February 2009

Title: What a load of Baracks - put a Brake on it...

Forget widespread dissatisfaction of the Bush regime, the failing economy and the Iraq war...the reason the USA has Barack Obama in power right now is due to this band, Brakes.
Or so they reckon.
Although hailing from Brighton and bound for Sheffield's Fuzz Club tonight - lead singer/guitarist Eamon Hamilton concurs: "We are fundamentally responsible for the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States of America, yes.
"If it hadn't been for our five-second epic song Cheney (lyrics: Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, stop being such a Dick), then it is without a doubt that McCain would've won, and died, and Sarah Palin would would have become President and ruler of the known universe by April 2009.
"We would've been releasing our new album Touchdown into a world in the grip of a nuclear winter, with no electricity for people to listen to the CD and no internet for them to download it from. We would still have toured it, though, on acoustic guitars and a drum kit pushed in shopping trolleys.
"We have built up a live reputation over the past six years and nearly 1.000 gigs.
"Yes, even in a world destroyed by the total collapse of reason, we would've toured our music"
So, bold words from the band comprising members of critically acclaimed bands Electric Soft Parade and British Sea Power. They releases single Hey Hey on March 2 ahead of Touchdown on April 20.
Purveyors of a spontaneous "blend of punk, folk and country", their debut album Give Blood backed up what they'd been doing on the road for a while and found its way into the top five lists of many a broadcaster's albums of the year.
Followed by relentless touring with the likes of The Killers 14 months ago "hellishly close to collapse from nervous exhaustion" they relocated to a small barn in Oxfordshire.
After two albums with Rough Trade the credit crunch saw them part company and sign to Brighton label Fat Cat and head to a Glasgow studio with The Delgados' Paul Savage at the helm.
"It's our best yet," says Eamon of the results.
"We're really happy with the way it came together and the sounds that were caught. Touchdown is the zenit of civilisation. It will make your jaw drop further than the Dow Jones Index in 2008. This album shreds like an Enron paper shredder."

NME Review - Proud Galleries - London 28th January 2009

Tonight, Eamon Hamilton means business. He strides onstage wearing a silver catsuit which leaves nothing to the imagination, looking like Skeletor with Michael Stipe's head screwed on. He gives the crowd no explanation, and launches straight into 'Hey Hey' with such vigour his head starts to shake and he goes all red. By the time the band play 'Cheney' - which they do twice, on account of its shortness - he's bopping around like a battered Hole In The Wall contestant. Why can't all pop stars be as weird as this?

Matt Wilkinson

TNT Review - Proud Galleries - London 28th January 2009

Made up of ex-members from Brighton bands Electric Soft Parade and British Sea Power, Brakes first arrived on the music scene in 2005 as a novelty band you could take seriously.

I say novelty because their first album Give Blood was punctuated by weird ass ditties including one about a horny monkey and a seven-second diatribe against the then US Vice-President which went "Cheney, Cheney, Cheney - stop being suck a dick!"

I say seriously because their tunes were rooted in a Pixie-ish pop aesthetic that gave them a certain indie gravitas.

Tonight the band's first album is very much in evidence. All Night Disco Party gets the crowd pogoing almost immediately and I Can't Stand to Stand Beside You sees them at their alt-rock best.

New material from latest album Touchdown including single Don't Take Me To Space (Man) is similarly anchored by the bands commitment to ear-catching tunesmithery and humour but without the crazed abandon of Give Blood.

Lead Singer Eamon Hamilton is in his element in a snazzy gold tracksuit, his signature whiney vocals as a plaintive as ever.

A highlight sees them have a bash at Jackson, (a song they once covered with the help of the Duke Spirits Leila Moss) with bassist Marc Beatty gamely and none too successfully taking on the June Carter Cash part.

The Cheney 'song' meanwhile gets turned into a kiss-off which raises a big cheer. AG

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