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Brat Curse 

self-titled

[Anyway Records]

Reviewed by Chris Auman

This self-titled LP features 11 catchy tunes, most of which come in at under the three minute mark. The band proves they can drive fast but also switch lanes with relative ease and merge their pop tendencies with punk and indie rock. They are not unlike their Ohio precursors Gaunt in this respect and they reveal a love of 90s underground and alternative groups like Superchunk and Pixies.

The album kicks off with “Sweat Pants Lawyer,” a fast tempo raver that displays that aforementioned raw 90s punk sound and pop sensibility (I would totally hire a sweatpants lawyer, by the way). “It’s On Until it’s Not)” taps into the Weezer vein of big, loud, hooky guitars. “Psycho in the Furnace,” has a nice bit of Pixie’s swing to it. The instrumental “Spring Break Reagan” is a high-powered affair arriving on the heels of “Sobriety Butcher”—a brief interlude which sounds like a folk tune under the influence of the Flaming Lips. “Who Do You Call? brings an angular math rock sound to class and then the punk pop of “Acid Capsule Tina,” the album’s longest track at three minutes and 25 seconds makes it an epic jam by comparison.

The band’s half decade of existence hasn’t seen a terribly high recorded output which is understandable given the number of other bands its individual members are engaged in, which are all probably simultaneously side projects of each other. The byproduct is a solid guitar album with no filler, as it leans heavily on 90s underground rock. The Burse no doubt put on a great live show which you can catch later in the year in a venue near you when the album is released on August 2. The vinyl version will be limited to 200 pressings so don’t whiff on that.

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