Album Review

Brakes – Rock Is Dodelijk

• 6th Nov 2009

Whilst their studio output could be described as patchy and, at times, a little frustrating, in a live setting Brakes become an entirely different beast. Rock, you see, is deadly – or, at least really really really exhausting – when this amalgamated brighton four piece give it their full attention in front of an audience.

Stitched together from two intimate shows in Brighton and Cologne, this 20 track offering showcases a band who may at last be comfortable with who they are. Who they are is, of course, a savage and spiky bunch of mates who went from being in three really quite good bands to one really quite good, and really quite LOUD band, and it shows.

From the opening yelps of Hi How Are You to the mammoth riffing on Cease And Desist, it is impossible to think of Brakes as anything other than the musical equivalent of a frenzied attack dog, mercilessly going after its own back catalogue’s jugular.

This being Brakes, there are still a few head scratchers (Comma Comma Comma Full Stop sounds as pointless as ever, Hey Hey is bizarrely included twice and anything after Give Blood is barely represented) but overall this is an excellent snapshot of a quirky and vital band at their peak.