Young Machetes

These Blood Brothers just continue to keep me coming back for more. "Burn Piano Island, Burn" made me a fan, and "Crimes" was a thoroughly interesting listen, but with "Young Machetes" the band may have finally combined all the elements of their sound into one completely unique package. Sure "Young Machetes" brings back a lot of the abrasiveness of "Burn...", but it also pulls a lot from its more experimental counterpart, "Crimes." I believe that Wheelchair Assassin gave the best explanation of the Blood Brothers sound I've ever heard with this statement:

"Gang of Four meets the Dillinger Escape Plan meets the Pixies meets the Mars Volta... with helium!"

One who is unaccustomed to the unique brand of rock that the Blood Brothers play may be turned off upon first listen. The vocals are extremely shrill, the music is often times frantic and off key, and there's virtually no basic structure to any of the songs. Oh and it's noisy. Doesn't sound like a recipe for easy listening does it? However what the Blood Brothers lack in immediate like-ability, they completely make up for in playback value. I can't remember ever being bored with any Blood Bros record so far. And "Young Machetes" does a fine job of following that standard.

"Set Fire To The Face On Fire" and "Vital Beach" sound just like vintage Blood Bros circa their "Burn.." era, while experimental numbers like "Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes" and "1,2,3,4 Guitars" sound like they could have easily fit in with the last record. However don't most listeners want something relatively new with each listen? With that, The Blood Brothers don't disappoint. "Rat Rider", "Laser Life", "Nausea Shreds Yr Head" and "You're The Dream Unicorn!" all do a fine job of demonstrating exactly the kind of mash-up sound the band seems to have been going for on this record. Plenty of fury combined with thoughtful bits of melody and cohesiveness. Sounds like a perfect combination to me! Instrumentally the Bros continue to be both unique and talented, and everything from their shattering guitar riffs to their angular drumming is still perfectly in tact. They continue to be extremely creative musicians in the field. Just listen to any song on this record.

More or less if you've enjoyed any of the band's previous output, "Young Machetes" is probably going to be a well received album for your collection. While it's not some glorious "Burn Piano Island, Burn" meets "Crimes" mash-up, it does a great job of combining previous elements of their sound and still expanding it miles it opposite directions. It's best to be familiar with their sound before diving into this one. Otherwise you might end up wondering just what you've gotten yourself into.... Don't be surprised if you like it though.

The Blood Brothers sure were a good band, and I can't imagine what the people who have been with them the whole way thought of their break up. Here, on their last album, they don't go out with a whimper. It's easily one of their most concise, not as experimental as Crimes, yet more rapid fire and spastic than Crimes. I think they really have found a really good blend of all of what they were doing before. Sure, this doesn't replace all of their albums-there all special in their own ways-but this album really is a great blend of their styles.

The band has stated that six of these songs harken back to their own style, being more crazy and loud. While that may scream "special ed kids imitading at the drive in" to those who (such as I) despised much of their earlier junk, this is not the case. Finely tuned songwriting abounds, considering if the crazy songs are like Your The Dream Unicorn! and Rat Rider. And dang, no aimless rendering either. They never explode into random passages of jumbled beats and aimless screaming like they tended to do earlier.

Actually, there are lot's of experimentation, although it's not as noticeable. Songs like Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes show this, as it's some kind of hip hop disco song with a coda into some ambiance complete with an upright bass, floating organs, Timpanis (!) windchime guitars and a cello/clarinet (can't really tell), and Spit Shine Your Black Clouds, a song that stomps out with extreme catchiness, and gets more windy and weird from there. Even then, everything has experimentation with success, even the most hectic. It simply has new sounds everywhere no matter what kind of songs they are doing.

Some highlights:

*Your The Dream Unicorn!-Allmusic guide stated that this song starts out like a twisted noise punk version of "I Want Candy", and it does when you pick it up (how cool is that? And I hate that song!)! From there, it goes into pure noise rock and even a section that could be referred to as noise dream pop. All in two minutes!
*Laser Life-Retro keyboards and a cool pop vibe that you can dance to soon explode into another screaming breakdown with busy keyboards in the back. Awesome!
*Huge Gold AK-Man, this one is a total blast, with lyrics about tying up waterfalls in the trunk and starving summer suns in black basements. The jumbled beat while they scream "we take what the _______ we want!" is total bliss.
*Set Fire To The Face on Fire-The fearsome opener is as harsh a flaming wall of fire. Johnny Whitney's screams are easily one of the most bloodcurdling of all of the screams he has done.
*Vital Beach-Totally off the wall and energetic, the ending will have you neck moving like a bobblehead.

Their most catharic song, and the last song they ever did, is saved for last. Giant Swan, while may not be their best song (and mostly just good), is their longest song ever, and it folds out like a cabaret play. It starts out dank in the music (you can almost smell the leftover smoke), then it builds up and crashes, like some dying life. When they sing about the curtains closing, you have to wonder if they were referencing themselves. When it stops, it gives the image of a closed curtain, and the curtain of the career of the band.

Young Machetes is their highest scoring album, though I'm not sure you can call it their peek, since many of their albums are fearless, as you need them all! While your at it, give it March On Electric Children a listen to, as it's not as bad as I used to make it out to be. Either way, this is a band that really sounds good to my ears, especially in a genre that can be as annoying and boring as hardcore (probably because they don't color within the lines with any genre, which is a good thing). Check this band out and don't let this band go the way of Nick Drake.

I got to see the Blood Brothers when they toured with ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead this past year, and I must say, their live show is pretty awesome/terrifying/intense/inspiring/LOUD. Whatever their show was, it compelled me to check out the band's records.

I chose "Young Machetes" simply because it has "Set Fire To The Face On Fire" on it, which was their set opener, and it fried my face off (literally, I have no face anymore). It impressively does the same on record too, no small achievement. The rest of the record really impressed me as well - the band shows a lot of diversity, not just relying on screeching noise, but also experimenting with a very large assortment of different sounds.

The inherant problem with a band like the Blood Brothers is that the noise can be somewhat exhausting to listen to. It's not a record that you can throw on every day, but when that certain mood strikes you, nothing fits like Young Machetes.

Even at their most exhausting, the Blood Brothers are a million times more interesting than most other bands in any genre right now. Any fans of either eardrum blasting, anti-everything rock or just plain creative, unique music would highly suit themselves to give this record a listen.