Blood Brothers' latest raucous release excites

By Joey Vergara

Published Oct. 10, 2006

The Blood Brothers' music has always resided between a careful balance of spastic, aggressive punk and a more melodic side full of surprises. The band shifted toward the latter in recent years, developing a more distinct style with its progressive releases Crimes and Burn Piano Island, Burn.

Young Machetes, The Blood Brothers' latest, is no exception. The incessantly annoying, yet strangely appealing, music endears the listener into submission on every track.

It's very easy to pass off Young Machetes as the lame sequel to Crimes on the first listen. At closer inspection, The Blood Brothers have reached new limits. A big part of this came with the help of punk icon Guy Picciotto (Rites of Spring, Fugazi) on the production board.

The Blood Brothers' festering music stands at its finest on Young Machetes. As violent and exhausting as the music might sometimes be, this band knows how to piece together a good song. Classic pop sensibilities clash with a strong punk attitude at every turn to produce some of the band's most innovative music yet.

Take for example "You're The Dream Unicorn!" The track shifts at a moment's notice from rumbling bass, creaking guitars and Mark Gajadhar's irregular drumming to Ramones-like speed rock before concluding with a well-harmonized outro.

Young Machetes isn't for the musically faint of heart. It's perfect for those times you just need to indulge your short attention span. Most of the songs clock in at less than three minutes but leave a lasting impression just the same. "Rat Rider" sounds like a peppy 1950s cheerleader chant gone terribly wrong with a guitar line straight off a Yeah Yeah Yeahs record.

Although The Blood Brothers keep to a more or less uniquely identifiable sound throughout their releases, there lies a remarkable amount of technical variety. The Blood Brothers welcome diversity. "Laser Life" and "Camouflage, Camouflage" both stand out thanks to bassist/keyboardist Morgan Henderson and vocalist/keyboardist Johnny Whitney. The former song sounds like the perfect theme song for a casino with playful bass and keyboards.

"1, 2, 3, 4 Guitars" begins stripped bare of everything but Whitney's falsetto crooning and a constant percussion shaker. As the song pitches forward, Henderson's prowess on the bass adds another mysterious level to the song, and Whitney's feline-like screeching disrupts the peace when the song reaches its climax.

Guitarist Cody Votolato's abilities should never be doubted. He can rock out as viciously as any other ("Johnny Ripper") but manages to perform great indie riffs as well ("Lift The Veil, Kiss The Tank").

After being screamed at for more than half an hour, certain parts of the album begin to show their wear. When they aren't crying bloody murder, the singers actually carry a nice tune. "Lift The Veil, Kiss The Tank," which is filled with angry political commentary, and "Spit Shine Your Black Clouds" are some of the tamest tracks ever recorded by The Blood Brothers.

Young Machetes might not match the natural appeal of 2004's Crimes, but at least it's progress.

Artist: The Blood Brothers
Genre: Reckless rock punk
Record Label: V2
Release: Today
Most Listenworthy Track: 'Laser Life'
Rating: 3.5 out of 5M's