Several years ago, there was a band on Fearless Records you might remember--At The Drive-In, who is no longer with us. After releasing their debut e.p. Dasein on Fearless many wrote Brazil off as another At The Drive-In rip off band.
After relentless touring, writing music, and finally honing their sound, the boys from Indiana released their debut l.p. A Hostage and the Meaning of Life. When comparing their e.p. to their l.p. it seems light years away, for Brazil's music is now backed by colorful instrumentation and engaging songwriting. It has strayed away from what they were doing previously. The album starts with "Hostage" a barrage of feedback greets the listener before the guitar riff settles in and the vocals of Jonathon Newby hits the listener's ear.
The vocals threw me off at first, because they sound like a mix of Coheed and Cambria meets At The Drive-In, just more progressive. After a few listens I became accustomed to them.
This six-piece band uses everything from strings, horns, to three keyboards, and not to mention the guitars to add a rich musical texture. This is one of the few albums I have heard where the piano rivals the guitar parts and they really complement each other. The lyrics at times are pretentious like in "Zentropa" where Newby sings, "the monolith stands in the darkening shadow." Yet at other times they are truthful and haunting like in "The Novemberist" where he sings, "I dream of airplanes crashing solemn beginnings daily every day I grow old."
One of Brazil's downfalls is that they make no bones about wearing their influences on their sleeves. After listening to this album you know that the band was listening to a steady diet of ATDI, The Mars Volta, and Radiohead, almost to a fault. The complexity of the music is not only a strength, but also a drawback to this album. Sometimes it seems as though the band is trying too hard to be complex, and a lot of people will have a hard time getting through the album. There are enough original ideas and talent on this album to not confuse them with their predecessors, but there is not enough to separate them from the pack.
2.5/4
