Broken Records -
Weights & Pulleys (JSharp Records)
 |
| Broken Records - Weights & Pulleys |
Release Date: 19th May 2014
This is the third album from Edinburgh
collective Broken Records and you get the feeling they are really hitting their
stride. Right from the anthemic chanting of opening track 'Ditty (We Weren't
Ready)' to the Bruce Springsteen on Red Bull rock of 'Winterless Son' you can
tell that these lads don't want to waste any more time. Recent single 'Toska'
is up next with its beautifully slow build and then 'So Long, So Late' comes
crashing in with Editors meets the Killers levels of indie bombast like a
heavyweight entering a boxing ring but with Converse trainers on. This is
seriously big sounding stuff that could stand proud aside the likes of the
National and encourages me to believe that the likes of the B Of The Bang
(favourite album of 2013, check it out) weren't a one off fluke.
Moving on to title track 'Weights
And Pulleys' and the hand-claps combined with Brandon Flowers-esque vocals give
this a real Killers live in Vegas feel while 'Betrayal' is a chest beating,
foot stomping piece of festival magic that will have crowds of people head
bobbing and singing along in unison this summer if there's any justice in the
world. Then follows a brief but beautiful piano and string interlude simply
title '-' followed by 'You'll Be Lonely (In A Little While)', an epic number
with big ol' drums and a melody that makes you want to walk down the high
street with your chest pumped out. By the time we get to 'Nothing Doubtful',
the mellower melodies are quite a change in direction but around halfway
through a sort of indie-samba starts up and for the deal is sealed - these guys
are ace and imaginative and cool and probably really good at pub quizzes. The
band-crush is on.
Disappointingly, 'I Won't Leave
You In The Dark' isn't a misguided love song to the much-maligned mushroom but
is, in fact, a heartily strummed piece Joshua Tree era U2 meets the Boss
rock'n'roll. The album, sadly, comes to end on 'All Else Can Just Wait' which
oozes cinematic influences and should be featured on some bleakly heart warming
but low budget film in the not too distant future (again, justice permitting).
Broken Records are a great, British band and should be heralded as such. The
problem is, they also seem like the kind of guys to hold the door open for
other, less talented bands only to miss out on the big opportunities. Nice guys
might finish last but they make better albums. Discuss.
More information: http://brokenrecordsband.com/
Live Dates:
5th June - GoNorth Festival, Inverness
2nd August - Queens Hall, Edinburgh