Brakes - The Beatific Visions

Like indie stains trodden in by a stamp of punk that somehow ended up bordering on the murky alterno-folk border, it’s yet more genre-bending bumf from the side-turned-proper-project Brakes. And once again, remembering that attention spans - ignoring the last few Yes fans - aren’t what they used to be, it’s one hell of a quick-fire follow-up.

From the two minutes of sharp pop guitar that ‘Hold Me In The River’ has to offer, to the thrashing and a little bit weird politico-pop of ‘Porcupine Pineapple’, there’s something for most to get their musical claws in to. Hell, the boys even push past the four minute mark on the closing track, as the fantastically wistful minor chords of ‘No Return’ come up trumps as a surprise album highlight.

Yet, while the chipping yelps on ‘Spring Chicken’ save what could have been a barn dance’s worst nightmare, there does remain a few when-bad-tracks-happen-to-good-people moments.

Raise your stumpy yokel hand then for ‘If I Should Die Tonight’. Still only stretching to the two minute mark, it’s a darn tooting embarrassing piece of work - the bobbly strumming taking a pedestrian line (dance), rather than an ‘All Night Disco Party’ wiggle.

Blurring lines rather than harshly mixing it up, ‘The Beatific Visions may not be as immediately loveable as ‘Give Blood’, but it’s still got some hellz-a-poppin’ moments.