Posted on: August 2, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Billy Brush – Love Sublime / 2007 Self / http://www.myspace.com/billybrush /

Billy Brush last released an album in 2005; despite the break, the act has not lost a single step. Tracks like “My Couch” show Billy Brush and the rest of the band as a culmination of mid-nineties alternative with an earlier emo sound and more than a passing hint of Ben Folds and They Might Be Giants. The style of a “My Couch” is enough to draw listeners by the barrelful; it provides listeners with a sound that has referents in the popular music of the era but ultimately provides something new for individuals to pick up on. This blend of styles is a rare thing to hear in today’s music. It is the talent and virtuosity exhibited by Billy Brush on “Love Sublime” that demarcates them from all the other bands trying to earn a paycheck.

The band furthers their cause by creating an emotionally heavy and logical progression during the middle section of “My Couch”; the scales played by the piano, coupled by the R.E.M.-like sound by the rest of the instrumentation on the track, gives this track life well after it winks into darkness. The title track of “Love Sublime” has the same simplistic sound of “My Couch”, but brings the band into new territory. This track allows Billy Brush to include much more in the way of electronic influence; hints of Nine Inch Nails, New Order, and Depeche Mode all influence the overall sound of the track. Of all the constituent elements of Billy Brush, the only thing that will strike listeners as a constant during the track would have to be the vocals, which again achieve a They Might Be Giants-like inflection to the lyrics on the track.

The guitars imbue a slightly harder sound to “Love Sublime” than was present during “My Couch”, but the piano draws the band back from a Stabbing Westward-like sound. “BluDiamond” is a track that continues the electronic sound of Billy Brush, throwing in a disco-like bass line into the mix. The result is something that may just be the one track that will bring Billy Brush into the mainstream. The disaffected vocals during the track link the band back to the aforementioned dance bands, while the grit of the guitars tie the act to the latest and greatest rock acts. What results during a “BluDiamond” is a song that everyone can get behind; Billy Brush has their hit here, and this is where the band should focus on subsequent albums. Pick this album up.

Top Tracks: BluDiamond, My Couch

Rating: 7.0/10

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