Be Brave
The Strange Boys
Be Brave
Okay, fine, I'll admit it: I kind of have a crush on Austin, Texas garage rockers The Strange Boys. All of 'em, even the gal with the blonde afro who plays the sax, Jenna Thornhill-deWitt. Following 2008's breakout debut, The Strange Boys and Girls Club, the youngish slacker rockers found a solid niche market in the U.S. and, unpredictably, a solid fan base in the U.K. No bother, they went back into the studio and, ignoring the hype and pressures that surround a sophomore record, recorded Be Brave, an equally good - if much different - record.
Be Brave opens with "I See," an instantly enjoyable twanger that sees frontman Ryan Sambol singing - in slurred verse - some surprisingly well written words of passive poetry, adding a harp-driven pseudo-power-hook to the track's already very accessible accompaniment. It's a great opener that sees these Boys peeling away some of the fuzzy grit in favor of a stound akin to pre-Aftermath Rolling Stones.
From there Be Brave is a solid garage rock ride, filled with incomprehensible vocals (many of which seem to deal with political themes), jangle guitars, bratty vibes and bouncy rhythms. The title track, for sure, is an instant standout, sounding like some lost Nuggets-era pop single. Mixing elements of country, R&B and punk into their sound on Be Brave, presenting a fluid and lean 12-song record that, despite the band's limited palate, never drags or bores, instead feeling like a singles collection for slackers.
Modestly produced by Sambol himself, the Boys have a different line-up on this record, one that features some very well-thought-of members of the ongoing garage rock revival. For starters, original drummer (and founding member) Matt Hammer has been replaced by Seth Densham (formerly of Mika Miko). The aforementioned Thornhill-deWitt (also of Mika) is new, as is back-up singer Tim Presley, member of Darker My Love. Now something of a supergroup, the Boys are led by Sambol, a strong leader with not only a clear understanding of roots rock, but an easygoing swagger. Confidence, I suppose, is the word when talking about Sambol.
Had Be Brave been released when I was, say, 16, I think the Boys would be my favorite band. They have the look, the sound and the style of a band that could've, in a different time, done quite well on, say, MTV. They could've been bigger than Weezer, back in 1997ish, when good rock bands could still "make it" on MTV and in record stores. Instead we have an album that maybe 30,000 people will ever own. A shame, really, as I'm pretty sure all 30,000 who buy the record will like it very much - if only for the six or seven instant standout tracks, any of which could be minor radio hits in tastier times. 8/10
