Brando Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
When you hail from the Midwest, write pop songs full of melodic and lyric quirks, and intermittently take off into flights of lo-fi basement psychedelia, it's hard to avoid comparisons to Dayton, OH's favorite '60s-smitten sons, Guided by Voices. Infrequently does it follow that you actually deserve to be included in such esteemed company. Brando, however, is one of the few such deserving bands, having, over the course of a decade and five indie label releases, worked its way into the headiest pop atmosphere. The sixth release from the combo, 943 Recluse, noticeably scales back on some of the sonic complexities of Single Crown Postcard and Headless Horseman Is a Preacher. Leader Derek Richey intentionally set out to record music that recalled the stripped-down four-track recordings of the band's early days. No doubt the sound is rawer and starker; but the more elemental approach could never conceal a set of melodies as scintillating as the ones Richey wrote for the occasion. And songs like the swooning "Abby Laine," with its three-note guitar line, the buoyant, hazy "Natural Is Natural," rocking "Seine to the Rhine," unnervingly surreal "The Verse Begins to Float," and the Shudder to Think-like art rock of "Seamstress at Night" are as fantastic as any Brando has recorded, with another half-dozen trailing not far behind. A few of the tunes fall flat -- with 18 tracks (two of them hidden), that's to be expected -- but on the whole, this is among the band's strongest efforts. ~ Stanton Swihart, All Music Guide
'Instantly Spaceships and Every 16 Years Old Guide'
Release Date 9/17/2002
Tracks 24
Label Recordhead
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Purportedly (and paradoxically) a 24-song EP, Instantly Spaceships and Every 16 Years Old Guide by Bloomington, IN, rockers Brando compiles a slew of unreleased material. The first 12 tracks (the "Instantly Spaceships" section) consist of material recorded in 2000 and 2001 for an as-yet-unreleased independent film, while the latter half represents material that primary member Derek Richey dug up from the mid-'90s. The nature of the project makes it clear that this is not a good starting point for the uninitiated. The release is packed with tunes that troll the post-Pavement, post-Sebadoh indie rock waters, swinging from instrumentals to spare, glacial-paced musings ("Zimmerman's Last Cigar") to hiss-tinged lo-fi -- none of which is to say that the CD is without its strong points. Nevertheless, in order to fully appreciate the merits of this solid combo (whose lineup has become somewhat scattered due to relocations and marriages), new listeners should seek out more cohesive releases, such as Adder or Peacocks on Linen. ~ Erik Hage, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Their first release after a move to a larger indie rock label, Brando clears away a little more of the lo-fi fuzz from their criminally obscure earlier releases, but generally keeps with their previous indie rock aesthetic. Still forced to work with bandmates who are spread over a large geographic area, from his home state of Indiana to Brazil, primary songwriter Derek Richey seems to be entirely comfortable with coordinating both his and his collaborators' muses in less-than-ideal conditions and emerging with a final product that suffers little from the lack of a truly cohesive sound. As usual, Richey is found to be in good voice and happy to explore the various strains of rock and pop found in the American underground, drawing from and recombining certain elements and tying them together in a package that belies the limitations of four-track recording. And while that's not to say that Richey is proven to be complacent here, as repeated listens reveal an album with considerable depth and numerous charms, from the indie soul of "Bye and Bye" and the burned-out '60s pop of "Partisan," he has yet to make the grand, career-defining album that could solidify Brando's status as genuine indie rock royalty. Albums as uniformly solid as this help move them an inch closer, however. ~ Matt Fink, All Music Guide
'The Headless Horseman Is a Preacher'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 17
Label Smokey Lung
See Album Tracklist and Review
'Peacocks on Linen'
Release Date 1/1/2000
Tracks 12
Label Smokey Lung
See Album Tracklist and Review
