Brakes

If there were to be an award for the funniest sight in music, it’d have to go to watching people try to dance to a song that barely lasts for four seconds - in fact, it’s more of a violent reaction than something you’d see on Strictly Come Dancing. You know that you’re onto something a little different when a band manage to pull this off in the very first song.

Brakes are one of those bands that would be all too easy to dismiss as “a bit quirky” or “too novelty for my liking”, but underneath their eccentric exterior there is a plethora of original ideas, much like blending the weirdness of Come On Pilgrim era Pixies with the fun of the B-52s and the angry political viewpoints of early punk.

After the opening ‘Comma Comma Comma Full Stop’, the group launch into a series of live favourites one after another: ‘Ring A Ding Ding’ is followed by ‘Hi How Are You’ (with the bizarre but anthemic chorus of “Won’t you shut the f*** up I’m just a-trying to watch the band”), and previous single ‘Hold Me In The River’ follows soon after.

After a highly impressive opening slot from country-rock Dundonians Luva Anna and an inconsistent set from Le Reno Amps, the venue was jam packed, and within no time, the front few rows turned into one big sweaty dancefloor.

Despite being a fairly slightly built character on the stage, frontman Eamon Hamilton certainly packs a punch with his fiery and intense delivery of the vocals, and also gets the crowd involved, getting an audience member to count the band into two renditions of ‘Cheney’ off the bands first album, called ‘Give Blood’. You can’t blame the band for playing the song twice in a row - after all, it is only ten seconds long!

Further antics carry on when a pineapple is thrown into the crowd for a lucky crowd member during anti-war rant ‘Porcupine or Pineapple’ (What did they do with the porcupine then? - Ed), though it’s unlikely you’ll have heard a protest song before with the lyrics “Porcupine or pineapple?/Spiky spiky!” in the chorus! Either way, one lucky audience member not only gets a great night out but some fresh fruit as well!

The one problem with the set is that even though the set drifts between country-rock (‘Jackson’), good old rock and roll (‘Spring Chicken’), punk-funk (‘All Night Disco Party’) and countless other genres, there are moments when you can’t help but lose a little concentration - it’s difficult to keep following something that jerks about in different directions so often.

If you’re prepared to put in the effort though, Brakes probably only come second to Muse for bringing their records to a new level when it comes to their live show - they’ll give you showmanship, lots and lots of songs for your money, and if you’re lucky, even a healthy nutritional breakfast to boot.

FUTURE GIGS

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