the main issue with The Brothers Movement is that what they do on this record has been done so many times before
the main issue with The Brothers Movement is that what they do on this record has been done so many times before
www.myspace.com/thebrothersmovement http://www.konkurrent.nl
The great thing about the human voice and musical instruments – even the humble guitar, bass and drums – is that when a group of creative individuals come together to form a collective, they can produce something unique and interesting, even after 50 years of pop music. However, apparently no one told The Brothers Movement this…
From opening track Blind and throughout the rest of the record, it is evident this is a smoothly recorded and carefully put together LP. The band are clearly confident in and competent at what they are doing, it is just that what they are doing is desperately uninteresting. It is quite surprising that musicians in 2010 would choose to sound like million-selling 1990s British guitar bands (unless future record sales are their only motivation), and perhaps they haven’t set out to achieve that, but whether it is inadvertent or not, this is what they’ve done.
At various turns the vocalist sounds like Liam Gallagher and Richard Ashcroft (and even like Ian McCulloch on The Salute), and I’d go as far as to suggest the songs could slip onto the LPs of the groups the first two of these men fronted without anyone batting an eyelid or doubting their hearing. It might be argued that Oasis and The Verve had their good moments, but the main issue with The Brothers Movement is that what they do on this record has been done so many times before. Whereas The Soundtrack Of Our Lives sound a bit like Oasis and get away with it, because of their infectious enthusiasm, sense of humour and appreciation of stadium rock irony, The Brothers Movement merely achieve a poor pastiche of bands many people have grown pretty tired of.
On a positive note, the album closer We Shall Lift Our Heads is a clear stand-out track, with a long instrumental section and an almost anthemic quality. Unfortunately, it is doubtful the attention span of many listeners will allow them to make it through the first ten songs without serious lassitude setting in.