Preview: Brenda "Silver Tower"
Friday, June 18, 2010 at 9:00AM 
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Brenda makes classic, American indie rock - and they do it well. The Portland Maine band caught a huge break when Jeff Tweedy took a liking to their still yet-to-be-released debut record, Silver Tower, landing them a spot on the bill for the Wilco-curated Solid Sound Festival. After spending a few days with the record, I know what Tweedy sees in these guys.
Silver Tower owes a heavy debt to 90s indie rock. Packed with guitar hooks, bouncy bass lines and major-chord progressions, it's obvious that these guys have worn out their Pavement and Guided By Voices records. But, that's just one of many influences at play here - there are also hints of folk-rock, power-pop, and 60s pop melodies. Ghandi and Intro (the curiously named fifth track) are soaring anthems that wouldn't sound out of place on a Band of Horses record. Pill Hill starts with a frenetic guitar and hi-hat attack before suddenly changing into a meandering, mellow jam. Across The Bay is a swaggering slow burn that breaks down, finds a tight groove and then builds to a distorted, discordant finish. It's this build and release that makes Silver Tower so dynamic and so interesting - just when the band settles into a groove they shake things up and take a new direction. Despite the laid-back vibe, the band is tight and musicianship is fantastic.
There's a lot to like on Silver Tower; you will probably hear pieces of a lot of your favorite bands in these songs, yet they still sound fresh and new. This is elemental indie rock, music for record junkies - my kind of music. Highly recommended.
The first two tracks off Silver Tower are available for stream and download below, along with a great video for Blackout:
Brenda - State Lines
Brenda - Blackout
Silver Tower is out on Mckeenstreet Music on July 29th. Catch Brenda at the Nateva Festival in Maine on July 3rd and at Wilco's Solid Sound Festival in western Mass in August.
Reader Comments (2)
Check out Semitone at www.semitonemusic.com
They are an up and coming east coast band - lots of style, great musicians, a somewhat different style incorporated into each song... Just good stuff you won't get tired of!
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more semitone -
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