Oct 1 – Chapel Hill, N.C. @ Local 506
Oct 3 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ North Star
Oct 5 – Washington, D.C. @ Black Cat Backstage
Oct 6 – New York, N.Y. @ Bowery Ballroom
Oct 7 – Allston, Mass. @ Great Scott
Oct 10 – Toronto, Ont. @ El Mocambo
Oct 11 – Ann Arbor, Mich. @ Blind Pig
Oct 12 – Chicago, Ill. @ Empty Bottle
Brakesbrakesbrakes have been tremendously busy this year, trekking across Europe and their homeland England, and don’t plan to slow down anytime soon. The UK foursome will return to the U.S. for the first time in more than two years to give American audiences a live dose of their acclaimed new album, Touchdown (FatCat Records). The blokes will team up with Scottish lads and labelmates The Twilight Sad and We Were Promised Jetpacks for a stateside blast that will kick off October 1 in Chapel Hill, N.C., and stop in New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. before ending in Chicago.
With five years of near-constant touring, the band has shaped their infectious live show to capture the same kinetic energy that shines through on each of their dynamic records. Whether stepping on the accelerator, or slowing it down, brakesbrakesbrakes leave their compelling melodies and off-kilter lyrics embedded in the brains of all their listeners. Frontman Eamon Hamilton treats his clever wordplay with chameleon-like vocals as he calmly switches between the urgent intensity of “Don’t Take Me To Space (Man),” the joyous bombast of “Eternal Return,” and the pensive refrains of “Leaving England.”
The band’s third LP continues to garner some of the strongest reviews of their revered career. Spin exclaimed: “Frontman Eamon Hamilton’s playful yelp has given way to a sturdier sound, evident in the energetic riffs of interstellar love song ‘Don’t Take Me To Space (Man),’ the anthemic power-pop hooks of ‘Hey Hey,’ and the lush shoegaze drone of ‘Oh! Forever.'” Popmatters simply declared: “The best record yet to be released in 2009.”