The Brakes

The Brakes: Tale of Two Cities on JamBase

The Brakes — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 00:01:10 -0000

By Dennis Cook

There's a warming charm to The Brakes from the moment they fire it up. It happens at their shows, which practically leap into your arms and plant one on you, and it happens immediately on Tale of Two Cities (Hyena). Though a deceased pony I've whipped in print for years, it bears repeating in this instance: if popular radio were actually based on talent, sheer appeal and quality songwriting then The Brakes would already be massive. Of course, today's marketing driven mentality slants things far too heavily towards economic concerns, leaving art lying battered on the side of the highway. Luckily, The Brakes picked her up, giving her their coats and last cigarettes like decent lads should, and wooed this 12-pack of delights out of her.

Everything about them, from the massively appealing tunes to the solidity & flow of their playing to the butterscotch trip of lead singer Zach Djanikian's tongue, carries the precocious creativity of young Steve Winwood, Paul McCartney and others who rose to mainstream fame in the '60s without sacrificing sophistication in their music to do so. Recorded during a two-month joint residency in NYC and Philadelphia, Tale cherry picks the ripest fruit from the run, a successful gambit that shows off both their writing chops and live prowess not unlike Assembly of Dust's fabulous The Honest Hour.

Stupidly catchy track after track, it's the final trio – "Song of Imponderables," "Who Am I To Be" and "Sister Mary" – that cement how fundamentally good this band is. Quiet numbers today tend to still rely on bombastic bursts or pushy production to get their point across, but "Imponderables" embraces a potent hush, benefiting from their collective restraint, rising only as much as they need to on the chorus, which consistently gives me a shiver with it's simple, true spirit and delivery ("There were no stars to steer our course/ No bell to toll the hour"). "Who Am I To Be" is an incantation, a sect-less prayer that yearns in words, music and tone:

Please tell me something I don't know
Please, give me something that will grow
Who am I to be?
Tell me who am I to be
A distant lover or your family
Tell me who am I to be

A deep, fine soul rises on this cut, the eloquent guitars and burbling tom-toms capturing in mood what the lyrics suggest, a kind of interlocking intelligence that informs the entire record. The overlap of their efforts layers in pleasures that surface with repeat listens, so you'll be near powerless to stop at one spin as "Sister Mary" – a smoky grower in the vein of The Black Crowes "Seeing Things," slide swoon encircled with barbed wire – is given the neat sendoff, "I'll be just fine/ My world is filled with possibility/ You can go on, but I'll take my time." This line serves as a statement of purpose for The Brakes. They seem dedicated to the music far more than the cult of personality or dumb money chasing antics of many bands out there, especially one with this much potential mass appeal. Their obvious dedication to craft is a joy, and they've made an absolutely wonderful slab this time out.

http://www.jambase.com/Articles/14570/The-Brakes-Tale-of-Two-Cities

XPoNential Festival Tickets

The Brakes — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:33:47 -0000

Discounted early bird tickets are available until Monday, June 30th, so get 'em while you can! http://xpn.org/festival08/tickets.php

The Brakes quote card

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 02:27:54 -0000

The Brakes quote card

Imeem XPoNential Contest!

The Brakes — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:36:27 -0000

Create your own playlist on Imeem of artists playing this year's XPoNential Music Festival (that includes us!) and win passes to the festival (as well as a bunch of other cool stuff)!

Check out the rules and sign up here: http://www.imeem.com/wxpnfans

The Brakes in Philadephia Weekly!

The Brakes — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:24:34 -0000

Umm ... Drop

The Brakes.

by Doug Wallen

As you may have heard, drummer Josh Sack of Philly’s promising young Brakes succumbed to leukemia just as the band released its breakthrough album Tale of Two Cities last month. Recorded live at Milkboy in Ardmore and the Knitting Factory in N.Y.C.—hence the title—the album’s a studied reconciliation of showy jamming, sturdy classic rock and breezy folk-soul with Zach Djanikian’s casual storytelling at the center.

In the face of tragedy, the Brakes are soldiering on and touring intently behind Cities, which has already garnered strong reviews (including one from The Village Voice). And with good reason: Though indie snobs will almost certainly turn their noses up at the Brakes, the band has a knack for carefully controlled sprawl and day-in-the-life lyrics.

Some tunes, like the bouncy opener “Into the Ground” and the slower “Cigarette in the Rain,” are as laid back as anything by Jack Johnson, whereas “Danger Blues” and “Big Money” feature mighty blues-inspired passages that dig their heels in firmly. Despite its jam factor, “Supermarket” somehow echoes Elvis Costello, whereas the title track has heavy vibes of ’70s rock, “State of the Union” detours into hooky folk-rock, and “Boat Trip” ups the twang considerably.

That the Brakes pull off so many costume changes is a credit to the players. Besides singing and writing lyrics, Djanikian juggles bass, acoustic guitar and the odd tenor sax. Guitarists Matt Kass and Derek Feinberg also pick up the bass when needed, but mostly they provide the complicated intertwining of axes that can rocket into the stratosphere or just as easily spaghetti happily onto the floor.

Adam Flicker plays keys and sometimes trumpet, as heard on “Into the Ground,” and the ever-reliable Sack was often found playing the straight man to his bandmates’ ambitious noodling.

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/articles/17122/music--umm‹drop

"Tale of Two Cities" Reviewed in The Village Voice!

The Brakes — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:42:03 -0000

MAY 13, 2008

The Brakes'
Tale of Two Cities
Hyena Records

A monument to calmly neurotic pop excellence

by Edd Hurt

Unlike any number of pop musicians who take refuge in formalism, the Brakes sound like they know all about the way the world can pass you by when you're looking for a love to call your own. Recorded live last year in New York and back home in Philadelphia, Tale of Two Cities gets structural with twin-guitar breaks, elegant soft-shoe piano, and funk rhythms that are jumpy and a little bookish. It's a tight, controlled, expert pop record that sounds suspiciously even-handed, as if the quintet's neuroses have been conquered all too successfully. The fancy chord changes and double-time passages convey what the arch lyrics don't, as chief songwriter Zach Djanikian croons soulfully about women he notices "standing in a hurry" in supermarket lines, along with other big-city perils.

"Supermarket" and "Big Money" make a case for these guys as harbingers of newfangled post-rock that recalls the relaxed post-boogie of such '70s bands relics as Little Feat and Orleans—you could imagine them covering "Easy to Slip" or "Still the One" with a straight face. "Big Money" rhymes death march with good heart and sports guitars that evoke the Allman Brothers and Big Star. "Boat Trip" works variations on country-rock, while the title track is a modified soul ballad in 6/8 that tells the sad tale of a beggar who was "at one time a maker of fine automobiles." The Brakes' ecstasy seems as qualified as their optimism seems earned, so Two Cities hangs onto its bag of tricks for dear life, which means the songwriting fades halfway through even as the level of musical invention remains high. It's the blessed details that count here: Every droll slide-guitar lick, piano fill, and power-packed coda edges The Brakes closer to the kind of elusive, worldly bliss that makes even formalism alluring.

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0820,a-monument-to-calmly-neurotic-pop-excellence,440973,22.html

The New Album, "Tale of Two Cities," is out TODAY!

The Brakes — Tue, 06 May 2008 21:23:50 -0000

We are very excited to have our new album, "Tale of Two Cities," be out in stores TODAY! You can also pick it up on iTunes, or Amazon.

Tale of Two Cities Tour Dates!

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:31:35 -0000

Tale of Two Cities Tour Dates!

Updates to playlist: The Brakes

The Brakes — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:17:37 -0000

Sister Mary by The Brakes

The Brakes — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:45:26 -0000