{"id":24048,"date":"2014-03-11T17:01:01","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T17:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-elder-brother-heavy-head\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:33:42","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:33:42","slug":"album-review-elder-brother-heavy-head","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-elder-brother-heavy-head\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Elder Brother – Heavy Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"When it comes to supergroups, Elder Brother<\/strong> is one that has remained a little more off the radar than most. A collaboration between Daybreaker\u2019s Dan Rose and Kevin Geyer of The Story So Far, the group has also nabbed members of The American Scene to add into the mix on their debut album, \u2018Heavy Head<\/em>\u2019. The result is a muted pop punk vibe that makes for a great bit of easy listening musicianship, and a more than worthy stopgap between the band members\u2019 other projects.<\/p>\n

\u2018Pennsylvania\u2019<\/em>, as the album opener, has a lot to live up to considering the strength of previous works by each one of the collaborative quartet. As if there was any doubt, Rose\u2019s vocals combine with the guitar of Geyer as if they\u2019ve been working together for years, and the work of The American Scene\u2019s Vincent brothers doesn\u2019t go unnoticed either as all four band members duel for the spotlight as their first impression as Elder Brother<\/strong> is made a solid one. It\u2019s \u2018Throw Me to the Wolves\u2019<\/em>, however, that has Elder Brother<\/strong> looking like a success in its own right, and not just off pre-existing strengths of the musicians within. There\u2019s no entry requirement for enjoying \u2018Heavy Head<\/em>\u2019 that involves already being invested in the project\u2019s parent bands; this is far from simple \u201cimagine if they put out an album together\u201d fanservice. Nevertheless, as \u2018Throw Me to the Wolves\u2019<\/em> twists its way through four minutes of superb music with a chorus that was made for arena-filling sing-alongs, the chemistry between the four-piece is certainly not something that has come together overnight.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Rose stays on sublime form as \u2018Webs\u2019<\/em> gives way to \u2018Any Sort Of Plan\u2019<\/em>, the latter of which is a semi-acoustic heartstring-tugger, a siren song for dimly lit rooms on nights where you\u2019d much rather be somewhere else. It\u2019s by far the best lyrical work on an album full of fantastic writing, and the change of pace definitely works in the album\u2019s favour, with what could be passed off as a filler track on paper ends up as one of the standout efforts that \u2018Heavy Head<\/em>\u2019 has to offer. \u2018Lightning Bug\u2019<\/em> is a fresh injection of force to follow up the slower preceding track, and the contrast only serves to make \u2018Lightning Bug\u2019<\/em> seem even more raw and towering as Elder Brother<\/strong> fire on all cylinders once more. \u2018A Slow, Comfortable Deep Breath\u2019<\/em> is an odd inclusion however, clearly intended as another relaxing respite but pitch-modified vocals hamper what would be far better off as an instrumental piece. The title track follows to take the album into its second half, and following it is another semi-acoustic effort in the same vein as \u2018Any Sort Of Plan\u2019<\/em>, and while \u2018Who\u2019s Gonna Carry You Home?\u2019<\/em> isn\u2019t quite on the level of the earlier piece, it still backs up the quickly-forming notion that Elder Brother<\/strong> are jacks of many trades, and capable of hitting the spot with each of them. \u2018Really Free\u2019<\/em> and \u2018In My Bones\u2019<\/em> carry the album into its final stages with the quartet still showing no signs of putting a single foot wrong. Undeterred by the more laid back majority of the record, the later tracks still pack a bit of a kick, and \u2018In My Bones\u2019<\/em> lets loose in its final moments a crescendo that has been building since \u2018Heavy Hand\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s just enough time for Elder Brother<\/strong> to work one last bit of acoustic magic, and cough up Dan Rose\u2019s best single vocal work since Daybreaker released \u2018The Northbound Trains<\/em>\u2019. For the most part, the band seem like one that would have played during the happier scenes of Skins; feelgood soft rock dipping its toes into the more pop-punk end of the spectrum. You\u2019d hope that \u2018Heavy Hand<\/em>\u2019 isn\u2019t just a one-off stopgap during time off from the quartet\u2019s parent projects, and that there is more of a future for Elder Brother<\/strong>. \u2018Heavy Hand<\/em>\u2019 is a magnificent start for the collaboration, and more of the same is the least that the debut deserves.<\/p>\n

5\/5<\/p>\n

‘Heavy Head’<\/em>by Elder Brother<\/strong> is out now on Pure Noise Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Elder Brother <\/strong>links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Antony Lusmore (@Metacosmica<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When it comes to supergroups, Elder Brother is one that has remained a little more off the radar than most. A collaboration between Daybreaker\u2019s Dan Rose and Kevin Geyer of The Story So Far, the group has also nabbed members of The American Scene to add into the mix on their debut album, \u2018Heavy Head\u2019. 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