Review: The Bravery – Stir The Blood

Sergio reviews The Bravery’s Stir The Blood.

Artist Name: The Bravery
Album Name: Stir The Blood
Year: 2009
Genre: Synth-Rock

There have been several noted feuds between The Killers and The Bravery over the years, which isn’t surprising as both these bands sound like they came from the same pot of synth-rock – except The Killers are actually able to write catchier songs.

Sounding more like a B-side of Hot Fuss, there’s nothing particularly memorable about Stir The Blood besides the upbeat ‘Hatefuck’ – no other track is worth listening to from beginning to end. The synth effects are also pretty cheesy and I’m not sure if they’re trying to be an 8-bit band or just really have crappy synth skills.

There was one song that particularly shocked and alarmed me. ‘I Am Your Skin’ is pure psychosis. Just read these “charming” lyrics: “I wanna be your skin, I wanna be your skin, I wanna feel everything you feel, I will be your covering” – did Leatherface write these lyrics? It’s fucking disturbing!

Sounding like a blatant rip-off of The Killers and a Gameboy game soundtrack, The Bravery really do nothing for the synth-indie-pop scene with the release of Stir The Blood. I also don’t understand why vocalist Sam Endicott sings with a British accent when he’s from New York – extremely Spinal Tap!

Best Tracks: ‘Slow Poison’ and ‘Hatefuck’

42/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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