Live Review | The Bravery at Black Cat, Washington, D.C. March 10, 2005

Somewhere in Northwest DC, as the fashionable line the sidewalk to the end of the block, the Bravery prepare in a smoky dressing room. With empty Stella Artois and hair-product bottles strewn about, the dressing room isn't the tattered postcard of rock degradation expected for these synth-punk upstarts. The confessed glamour whores prepare for each show like it were their last, and occasionally provide a dangerous setting that could fulfill that promise. Tonight they are in the unenviable spot of closing their co-headlining tour with British rock mammoth Ash, which is even more treacherous when the Bravery are being deemed the next "next big thing" by the world's music press. The mood backstage is cordial but tense as the band certainly understands that proving their wares tonight is more important than on nights when they are the support act. Failure could prove costly for a band just breaking in despite the praise, and keeping up is the bare-minimum expectation. However this Manhattan five-piece has not cast their reputation on mailing it in.

Officially a band for only 18 months, they have thus far acquired a ton of ink in their favor, but not everyone has seen what all the fuss is about. Sam Endicott takes the stage first with his supremely coiffed hair taking the lead. Looking something like Morrissey and Glen Danzig in a dark kaleidoscope, the singer's obscene confidence in print seems tempered on stage by a withered shyness. Followed by John Conway on keys, Mike H. on bass, and drummer Anthony Burulcich, Endicott sways and shivers in the waves of guitarist Michael Zakarin into "Swollen Summer." Climbing on a shredding guitar lead, bouncing bass and high-hat rhythms, the song opens perfectly and shows savvy in keeping the groove seamless from Ash's set.

Screeching like an orgasmic pre-pubescent on the verge, Endicott turns the playfully deprecating lyrics of "Public Service Announcement" into a cutting admission of arrogance. A synth framework is cast by Conway on "No Brakes," and he spends the remaining minutes or so completing a six of Stella, carefully monitoring the Powerbook keeping track of his beats. Though the synthesized buzz dominates their sound, the band is more reliant on the nimble craftsmanship of Burulcich's drumming and the bass rhythms of Mike H. to propel the songs. Endicott shows a raw vulnerability that serves to make him more charismatic to the crowd, as he clutches himself, stretches his coat, then leans torso-deep into the front rows.

The band opens up the floodgates with "Fearless" with sneering lyrics, harder bass, and throttling guitar work interweaving with the electrified melodies. The singer becomes more and more destructive as the left-handed Zakarin tears into the razor-sharp solo. Stomping and crying, the temper tantrum runs directly into the deafening intro of "Unconditional." Now at breakneck pace, the group trembles together into the song's thunderous break that rattles the room with united noise. "An Honest Mistake" takes the bliss further into frenzy as the group spasms and seduces the crowd. The quietest moments are now magnified over and over as the band's full focus turns to impressing the next batch of eager victims.

Successfully intermingling the melodic and hypnotic quality of techno with the punk thrust makes even their mid-tempo outings seem like violent assaults on the senses, and both attractive and undeniable. The dirty, wasted life of heavy drinking, drugging, and screwing has made the Bravery notorious, but the songs that they play in between and the room after room that they conquer, prove that all the propaganda may come deeply rooted in truth.


all photos copyright 2005 Rob Macy/ spitfirepress limited

Reviewed for Earlash Music Sight


www.thebravery.com

A special thanks to Jonny Kaps, Ashley Purdum (+1 Music), Kara Tutunjian (Earlash), Patrick Guerin (Legg Mason) and Amy Eroh (Miles & Stockbridge) for their help.