Ten years ago, before that preening leather jacket wearing cock Richard Ashcroft helped bury Brit Pop, there was a band called The Verve whose cool mix of cloud parting power chords and psychedelic dabbling defined an age. The Brothers Movement recall the optimism of the time providing feel-good Rock complete with mournful slide guitar.
Doubtless some of you are rolling your eyes but I liked The Verve back in the day and, to be fair, The Brothers Movement don’t exactly hijack their entire career. There are relations to another 90’s classic Supergrass, as well as some free wheeling Americana. In 2008, they were fortunate enough to support Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s tour which must have given them some indie credibility and exposed them to the right people.
Aside from one or two throwaways, such as the dull and directionless ‘The Salute’, each track stands out on its own without deviating from the collective flow. One of the best tracks (if not the best) is ‘Someday’, a genuinely moving ballad that builds to an emotional finale. The close of ‘War and Peace’ approaches symphonic homophony in its guitar muli-layering and their June ‘09 single, ‘Sister’, boosted by a warm church organ, takes a shot at the Rock religious experience.
Their debut may not be ground breaking, but the head bobbing confidence that it bestows is hard to dislike. As good as the LA scene can be, The Brothers Movement manage to steer clear of its acid fascination in favour of some harsh British reality. They also avoid The Verve’s habit for needlessly long jams. Most of all, their next release must evolve further still if they hope to achieve “ushering in a new era of Brit Pop” as opposed to rehashing the original one.
(© Copyright 2009 Brendan Morgan)
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