Why, in the 21^st century, with all its drive for progress, is a band like The Brute Chorus allowed to exist? It’s all spiky post-punk rip offs, but without any of the guts that made that sound such a vital creative force. It’s all wannabe stadium whoring, but without the skyscraper tunes, which, when it comes down to it, is all that’s about anyway. They constantly strive for emotional connectivity, but don’t project the required warmth. It’s like listening to air. Stale air.

Essentially, The Brute Chorus have two factory settings. One is the infuriating, faux-quirky little ditty, a la ‘Send Me A Message’, which after repeated listening has you pining for Scouting For Girls (a very sorry state of mind indeed). The other is the plodding we-wish-we-were-legitimately-damaged-but-we-don’t-have-the-soul-for-that trudge best (worst?) showcased on ‘Love’s Chains’.

Occasionally, they tap into somewhere in-between the two, which is far more bearable. In fact, in a different context, one might get quite used to ‘All The Pilgrims’. Sounding like a metallic reshaping of ‘Surfin’ USA’, it is the single moment where the band convey any genuine spark of creativity. We’ll also allow them one star for a song title as brilliant as ‘I’m Gonna Shake Your Treehouse Down’ – even if it is less the glam-pastoral dance floor stomper it should be, and more of the same tedious drivel that permeates the rest of the record.

The band don’t exactly help themselves either. While they probably thought recording the album live would lend a raw and edgy flavour, it instead renders it even more flat and calculated. Did he just say “fuck” on record? Oh my. How hardcore and anti-establishment are they? As if. It sounded attention seeking when MC5 pulled that trick in 1969. Find a new way to try and convince the record buying public you have personalities.

So. We’ve established that this is an appallingly bland and vacuous album. But is getting overly worked up about it worth anyone’s while? No. That would be pandering to any delusions the band may have regarding their own self-importance. In fact, if you’re still here because a) you have nothing better to do than read up on a band no one quite rightly cares about, or b) you are one of the pitiful few that do think something of The Brute Chorus; then, in all honesty, you need to have a long, hard, metaphysical think about the empty shell your life has clearly become. An album review and some free psychoanalysis? I should be paid.

Tags: The Brute Chorus

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 13:40 and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.