Underrated Gems: The Bravery
Is it a bit of a cop-out if I start my “Such-and-such is an underrated album” feature by saying that the artist’s entire catalog merits your attention?
Because, if there is any artist that warrants your attention, It’s The Bravery. Formed in 2003 in New York during the height of the state’s post-punk revival that would spawn similar bands like The Strokes (I’ll talk about them in another post). In 2004, they released their first EP titled the Unconditional EP and regularly played late-night shows at several clubs in New York that regularly sold out and garnered the attention of many record labels.
In 2005 they released their self-titled debut album
This is a damn good album, and still, in my opinion, the band’s best album. Everything on this album is wonderful, the production, the sound, the lyrics, you name it, there isn’t a single flaw that drags this album down. The album opens with the song “An Honest Mistake” and if you’ve never heard the song, please click here for the music video, because, though the song itself is great, the music video elevates it to a whole new level.
They followed that single up with the swaggering “Fearless” again, bolstered with a slick music video, this song is brash, ballsy, and in your face. Let me reiterate: this song rules, even with the blunt reference to oral sex, a tad on the nose, but the moment is fleeting, and honestly, it fits with the overall boastful and braggadocious tone of the track, I dig it! Another highlight on the album is the follow-up track, “Tyrant.” While this song was not an official single, this song is a nearly five-minute slow-burn of a track that is heavy on the synths and electronic beats and merits a listen based on the lyrics alone
“Every time you come around
There's another bouquet for me
A corsage of promises and I am pinned
Like a butterfly on a card
Now I'm naked and I'm scarred
And you're so perfect to me”
The final single that the album produced was “Unconditional.” The ninth track on the album, this song is kind of a buried gem, the pitched-up and fuzzed-out keyboard effects in the opening are a bit jarring (especially if you listen at top volume), but then the song kicks in with a thick and meaty bass line that grabs hold of you by the throat and doesn’t let you go until the song is over. The song also came with a video, it is definitely worth checking out.
I can go on and on about this album and just how wonderful it is, and it truly is wonderful. However, they have two more albums in their discography that need to be addressed, so let’s move on. In 2007, they released their follow-up to their debut, titled “The Sun and the Moon.”
This album was honestly a bit of a letdown. I hate to say it, “The Sun and the Moon” just isn’t that good. It is by no means a terrible album, it’s just forgettable. This isn’t to say that it isn’t without its songs worth checking out, and I’ll get to that in a minute, but the reason why it isn’t as good as its predecessor has to do with the creative direction the band took. They moved away from the synth-heavy new wave sound present in their debut and opted for a more stripped-down garage sound. While not necessarily a bad thing, change is good, and the band wanted to try new things and expand upon their creativity.
That being said, this album still warrants a listen, it’s just there are a lot more songs that can be skipped on this album, but some songs that are worth checking out are “Believe,” “Time Won’t Let Me Go,” and “Angelina.” That last song, in my opinion, is the best song on the album simply because it’s so damn relatable. Who here can honestly say that they haven’t taken a significant other for granted? Exactly, no one. The chorus is just so powerful and packs an emotional punch about a love lost and earnest regret.
“Nothing’s ever set in stone
Nothing’s ever set in stone
Everything I have someday
Will fall apart and fade away.”
Outside of those three stand-out tracks, there really isn’t much for this album to offer. It’s just kind of there. They did release a remix album titled “The Sun and the Moon: Complete” a year later, which had alternate “moon versions” of each of the tracks, but at that point, it felt redundant and unnecessary, Thankfully, they returned to form in their 2009 album “Stir the Blood.”
This album, while still not as good as their debut, and again, I really hate to compare new efforts to their predecessors, was better than “The Sun and the Moon.” One, it brought back the new wave aspects that were sorely missed in the previous album, and in some ways, even expanded into dream-pop territory with songs like “Slow Poison” and the electropop sounding “I Want to Be Your Skin.” They even got a little political in their song “Adored” where they directly reference the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The Fourth track, on the album, is by far, the darkest song they have ever written. Simply titled “Hatefuck,” yeah, three guesses as to what that song is about.
Overall, the album is a pretty good spin, even if it wasn’t as good as their debut album. Unfortunately, the Bravery got into the music scene during a crowded period, alongside bands like The White Stripes, The Killers, Franz Ferdinand, The Strokes, and others, and well, people just kind of wrote them off as generic and forgettable and the Bravery ultimately disbanded and went their separate ways in 2012. I think that will go down as one of the biggest crimes in rock music during the early aughts (aside from giving Nickelback a career, but I digress), they deserved way better than what they got, and that is why I say, wholeheartedly and sincerely, The Bravery deserves your attention and are worth listening to.
