It’s a while since there have been some real bad boys on the indie scene. Then along came Brother. Cocky, loud mouthed and pissing people off before they’ve even released anything. Claiming that they only will have singles on their album, the Slough outfit came to The Academy 2 on Tuesday 18th April. This was the perfect chance for them to quash the haters.
The venue was remarkably quiet as The Mighty Stef played a solo acoustic set. The Dublin troubadour played some tracks from his current album ‘TMS & The Baptists’. Stef’s sense of humour was full steam ahead stopping mid song as the gig photographer took a few shots. The Mighty One reminding the photographer of the best side to shoot a larger fella. Very entertaining, pity more people didn’t see him.
The so called ‘saviours of Brit Pop’ come to the stage in a still sparsely populated venue and the band notice with lead singer, Lee Newell, saying ‘This is intimate’. The band, of late, have been getting used to sold out shows and despite that not being the case here, doesn’t let it effect their game.
Starting off with the new single ‘Still here’, Brother look like a typical Britpop band. They come complete with backing dancer/singer strutting her stuff. From the offset though, the are grittier than your average Britpop band. The tattooed lead singer rocks just about as much as many of their heavier counterparts.
Having a first proper look at the band, this could have gone either way but Brother seem to actually have the goods to back up their mouthy claims. Their short eight song set is filled with catchy hooks and choruses. They are, obviously, going to get compared to the Britpop greats of the nineties. Echoes of Blur can be heard in guitars, while there’s a little Happy Mondays in their rhythms. It is though, their Liam Gallagher-esque vocals that will get talked about, especially when Gallagher has sent jibes at them, calling them ‘posh boys with tattoos’.
Brother do play with confidence and energy, a lot more than expected. Their biggest problem at the moment is that they have two singles out, ‘Still Here’ which they started with and ‘Darling Buds of May’ with it’s singalong chorus. They interact well with the audience, most of whom are there out of curiosity.
Finishing their set with ‘Time Machine’, the band exit the stage, no encore for the small audience. We what got though, was a glimpse into why these guys have been talked about so much. They exert a confidence and catchy songs that should take them further than just being a lads band. First though, the Geffen signed, Stephen Street produced band need to get material out to the masses.
Set list:
Still Here
Fly By Nights
High Street Low Lives
David
Shoot Like Lightning
Darling Buds of May
New Year’s Day
Time Machine