“With each release,” starts the press release accompanying ‘Indefinite’, “Brigades push the boundaries of their sound and continuously evolve”. Now, let’s be honest: this is mostly codswallop.
One doesn’t need to listen to this, the debut album from “South Carolina’s breakout pop-punk band” – a description which is at best awkwardly specific – to realise that the only boundaries being pushed are those defining the phrase ‘pushing the boundaries’. All it takes is one look at the name of the label on the spine of the… digital download (alright, our physical media references might need updating). Building its name with acts like The Story So Far and State Champs, Pure Noise has been busy over the last few years quietly but firmly establishing itself as one of the go-to labels for independent punk rock and pop-punk.
Accordingly, there were few surprises on Brigades’ 2014 EP, ‘Crocodile Tears’: it was 6 tracks of competently executed emotional pop-punk with one glaring stand-out track in ‘Small Time Crooks’. As for evolving their sound, though, it’s fair to say that on this full-length the quintet distill the best elements of its predecessor into something more special.
This is no great reinvention, but ‘Indefinite’ bears the hallmarks of a band with the potential to do great things; however, they’re not quite there yet. On one hand, there are songs like the slow-burning title track and hands-down album highlight ‘The Difference’ whose soaringly melodic intro riff and ear-worm dual-vocal chorus will immediately become a staple on our Summer playlists; on the other, mid-point mood killer ‘Not Until I’ve Flatlined’ is a generic, nasal disappointment after such initial hope.
Those are the extremes, but on the whole the album walks a precarious line between sincerity and cliché; with a band like label mates State Champs, their gleeful embracing of generic conventions is a huge part of the fun. Brigades take themselves too seriously to be entirely forgiven for ‘My Last Heart Attack’ which is basically what happens when someone passes an acoustic guitar to that dude who turns up to the party in a Dashboard Confessional t-shirt complaining that he’s “like, kinda going through some stuff right now”.
‘Indefinite’ is a solid album though and if you’re a fan of the Pure Noise stable as a whole – particularly bands like Forever Came Calling – it’s another well-rounded portion of riff-ridden pop-punk that’s well worth a listen. We just can’t help but think the best moments hint that Brigades are capable of so much more.
ROB BARBOUR