Bracket
Hold Your Applause
It’s a wonderful world we live in where Bracket is still fighting the good fight and putting out records even though the songs they bring to the world are heavy in content. Seriously, Bracket songs can get rocking and sad as hell at the same time. But then again, this band has always been an underdog that’s full of surprises. Most people know Bracket as a FAT band, but that’s only part of their history. They never started as a FAT band, and they’re not a FAT band now, and anyway they’ve always marched to the beat of their own drum.
It’s safe to say that Bracket fell off the radar for a bit there and decided to take full control of their music by both self-recording and self-releasing their albums. A new age was dawning and their “comeback” record Requiem served also as a farewell record as the band wouldn’t release another album for 8 years. The title Hold Your Applause is absolutely fitting for a band like this: never one to toot their own horn they’d rather we proceed with caution than start the celebration right away. But lucky for us, there’s nothing to be afraid of.
This record has all the melodies and harmonies we’ve come to expect from Bracket all mixed in with their riff- heavy brand of punk rock. There are also plenty of risks and experiments here as they’re throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us. The songs grow and turn and switch tempo and melodies and manage to be both heavy and sweet at the same time. This kind of balancing act truly shows how Bracket are skilled craftsmen in their music.
Lucky for us Head2Wall are among the chosen few who understand this band and have managed to give Hold Your Applause a classy release: double LP, mystery colored vinyl,and a download coupon. This is a limited pressing of 300, so you’d be a dummy not to snag one now.
With a title like Hold Your Applause, are they asking us to lower the bar on our expectations? Maybe, but this impressive album is such a step in the right direction for Bracket that it makes us feel all warm inside. A standing ovation is more like it.
Get your vinyl from Head2Wall Records.
