November 2, 2009

Album reviews: Brakes - 'Rock Is Dodelijk'

Brighton quirk-punkers caught in their natural habitat

7 / 10 You can understand Brakes’ decision to release a live album, since their brief history has been
a tale of patchy albums and ace shows. Recorded at Brighton’s Concorde 2 and Cologne’s Luxor, this has 20 tracks of their unique brand of short, sharp oddball-punk, plus what sounds like six people clapping in-between. ‘Pick Up The Phone’ and ‘Hi How Are You’ are amusing bursts of irritation, but ‘I Can’t Stand To Stand Beside You’ and ‘What’s In It For Me’ stand out, lost classics that could have snuck on to The Who’s ‘Live At Leeds’ (well, almost). For a true approximation of the Brakes live experience listen to this while staring at an egg in a tank top (an uncanny resemblance of frontman Eamon).

Martin Robinson

Click here to get your copy of Brakes' 'Rock Is Dodelijk' from the Rough Trade shop.