Brigade
Will Be Will be
Homespun Records

There are loads of mysteries in modern music: for example, who exactly buys Brokencyde’s records? Whatever happened to music on MTV? Who thought Lulu was a good idea? Why Brigade still aren’t considered a really big deal in the UK is another of these awkward posers. Despite releasing a string of very impressive records and becoming one of our most solid live acts, the London four-piece have never seemed able to break out of the cult bracket… a shame, as their latest record ‘Will Be Will Be’ illustrates.

These eleven tracks neatly encapsulate everything that makes Brigade such a compelling band. Catchy, thoughtful, well-written and entirely memorable, songs like ‘Adieu’, ‘It’s A Mess…’ and ‘Tiny Pieces’ are obviously the work of a band who’ve taken the time and thought to hone their craft, without losing any of their initial passion. Frontman Will Simpson (yep, brother of Charlie) is a distinctive vocalist, particularly live, and we’re sad that the band’s recent announcement that they’re going to be withdrawing from regular touring in future might mean we don’t get chance to see ‘em fire out these tracks any time soon… we’ll have to settle for sticking this on loud, it seems.

Running the gamut from weighty, almost grungy riffage to subtle, sensitive pop songwriting (see ‘Laughter Lines’), ‘Will Be Will Be’ mightn’t have the colossal production values of bands who’re more in vogue at present, but it has the heart, soul and ambition to eclipse the efforts of many. Only time will tell whether they produce a fourth record but if this is the last we hear from them, they’ll have done themselves justice. That said, we’ll have our fingers crossed that isn’t the end for Brigade. We all need bands like this lot and we’ve no doubt that they have plenty more to offer.

Buy this album from Amazon

Review by Rob Sayce