Punk Rock: Brakes' Give Blood

Following the Dick Cheney hunting accident/public relations accident, there couldn’t be a more timely disc than Brakes’ Give Blood which contains the 8-second punk onslaught song “Cheney” with the lyric, “Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, Cheney, don’t be such a [insert the V.P.’s first name].”

Brakes launches voice-cracking punk with the quirks of Pixies, guttural bass guitar lines of Nirvana, swirling top-note guitars of Sonic Youth on their more straight-forward days, and the short song intensity of any good one-minute punk juggernauts.

That said, Brakes also calls on all of the other influences on the punk sound. “NY Pie” is an AltCountry jaunt that’s ablre to bounce your step while also stumbling through barroom attitude. My only complaint here is that the song is over in less than two minutes. The country nod continues on the playfully melodic cover of “Jackson” (written by Jerry Leiber and Billy Edd Wheeler, recorded by Cash & Carter and Nancy Sinatra) with the sultry spunk of guest vocalist Liela Moss (The Duke Spirit).

“All Night Disco Party” encapsulates everything you want as a punk/grunge/indie rock fan hearing disco—you want to crash it up with some screaming vocals, razing guitars, and let it be a pogoing, headbanging good time.

Finally, English teachers everywhere should use “Comma Comma Comma Full Stop,” because in 5 seconds, it actually demonstrates punctuation so well.

Thank you to Brakes and Rough Trade/Sanctuary for the review copy.