Review: The Bravery – Stir The Blood

Embarrassing fact: I was a big fan of the Bravery’s first album. Their mix of new wave synths and alt-rock guitars wasn’t particularly fresh or interesting, but they displayed some real skill in crafting honest-to-blog hooks. I slept through their second platter, The Sun And The Moon, just like everybody else, but I held hope for their newest record. Having forced myself through Stir The Blood a few times, though, I’m ready to call it quits for good. The problem is not so much their obvious creative bankruptcy but more the crushing boredom that sets in after about two minutes. I wouldn’t call Stir The Blood bad, but it is oppressively monotonous and, more importantly, completely joyless.

Sam Endicott remains the black hole at the group’s center; it doesn’t matter how many catchy keyboard riffs get fired off, and the continued impressive tightness of the rhythm section can’t save these guys either. Endicott sings through a perpetual sneer but also sounds forever on the verge of tears – Stir The Blood is bitter emo brew at heart. Most of the songs are about sex but they’re never sexy; this is dance rock for fans of neither dancing nor rocking.

The main problem is that whenever the band gets a decent groove cooking, Endicott opens his mouth and lets loose with another stream of cliches both banal and offensive. His lyrics frequently name check other band’s work in a lamely vague way – if the phrase “brighter than bombs” isn’t setting off alarms, you may enjoy this record (or you may just want to invest in a Smiths greatest hits set). “I Have Seen The Future” basically rips the central melody straight from New Order’s “Blue Monday” and doesn’t even have the decency to be fun; “Hatefuck” promises misogyny but can’t close the deal because the perversity that should be easy sounds forced and trite. As a lyricist, Endicott never digs deeper than sixth-grade ideas of shock value, and his band’s attempt to ape rock standard-bearers from Joy Division to Velvet Underground fail to rise above the most facile form of mimicry.

And yes, we’ve all known for a while that the Bravery are mimics. And I would argue that, for a brief spell, they were the most talented rip-off artists in their field – their debut was way cooler than The Killers’ similarly themed Hot Fuss. But at the end of the day, this is the Bravery’s third album and their whole act is still just an empty party trick. I’m bored with this band, and for all Endicott’s malevolent bragging, the only crime he’s guilty of is being totally faceless. Stir The Blood is a great record for somebody who’s never heard rock music before, but it’s a bit of a snooze for the rest of us.

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One comment “awaiting immediate, obnoxious rebuttal”

1. Robert Smith says:

   December 6, 2009 at 7:55 pm

   I agree with this review!

   To my fans, I apologize for joining such a terrible band. As you can hear, my legendary talents have receded to utter embarassment.

   I thought that if I started a rift with another horrifically average current band which merely serves as a reminder of much better bands from the past, I could fool some folks for a bit.

   However, that band has lyrics like “are we human, or are we dancer?”, and I can’t seem to top such banality. And, as you can see, I try really hard at banality, tho I can’t for the life of me, figure out what “are we human, or are we dancer” means.

   eastern coaster knows what I’m talkin’ about, read his review, he’s on our wavelength, he knows we’re complete rubbish.

   Aye, I quit music! My apologies to Siouxsie for selling out and becoming such rubbish.