Artist: The Blood Brothers
Album: Young Machetes
Label: V2 Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: October 10, 2006
Overall: 10
Music: 10
Lyrics: 10
Production: 9.5
When I was first introduced to The Blood Brothers, I detested the band with a passion never seen before. It was a bunch of noise and high pitch screaming, which strongly resembled a seven year old girl getting murdered. Years passed and whenever â┚¬Ã…”The Blood Brothersâ┚¬? was mentioned, I would just shun the name away, as if they were the smelly kid in your class that no one wanted to acknowledge existed. Their newest released â┚¬Ã…”Young Machetesâ┚¬? was gaining a lot of hype and I began getting tempted. I was clearly aware of my opinion about the band beforehand, but I still felt drawn to give them a second chance. I listen to a couple new songs of the record and the world was inverted and I was hanging by my ankles. I was instantly hooked to The Blood Brothers, like they were a piece of art that was drawn by an ape and I was the environmentalist that saw the real beauty of the masterpiece.
One thing that must be understood about The Blood Brothers is that they are one of those bands that people either love them with great devotion or hate them with a strong passion. The Blood Brothers do not sound like anything ever heard before in this music industry. They have catchy beats, high pitch singing, destructive screaming, melodic keyboards, and a hundred other instruments that they incorporate in their unique sound. Each instrument has their own purpose and distinction in each song, but what stands out about this band is the vocals. You can strip the music away and only leave the vocals and still have a great song with enough catchiness to drive your foot to some heavy tapping.
â┚¬Ã…”Young Machetesâ┚¬? starts off with the lines â┚¬Ã…”Fire, Fire, Fireâ┚¬? being yelled without any musical background, then itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s quickly interrupted with a repetitive guitar riff. â┚¬Ã…”Set Fire to the Face on Fireâ┚¬? is a great song to start the record off. It incorporates everything The Blood Brothers have to offer and prepares the listener for a record filled with twists and turns.
The next song to follow on the record is by far one of the best on the record, entitled â┚¬Ã…”We Ride Skeletal Lightningâ┚¬?. This song has an eerie feel to it, yet at the same time, itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s catchy and will leave you singing along. The song slows down, it speeds up, and it will leave you feeling like you are on a rollercoaster with a final drop that aims straight into the ground.
â┚¬Ã…”Laser Lifeâ┚¬? starts off with a catchy, early 90â┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s keyboard beat. There is a repetition of the line â┚¬Ã…”Oh, Team Machineâ┚¬? seen throughout the song. The chorus is extremely catchy and will stick in your head for the rest of the song. Near the end of the song, everything speeds up like you are tripping on some drug and everything is passing by is a blur and you just stand there, watching everything and taking it all in.
â┚¬Ã…”Camouflage, Camouflageâ┚¬? starts of by a series of questions and answers regarding a female named â┚¬Ã…”Aliceâ┚¬?, in which the questions are screamed and the answers are sung but in a quick manner. The beginning of the song is rather upbeat and fast paced, but once the song hits 2 minutes and 4 seconds, the song slows down and itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the first intermission from The Blood Brothersâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ face paced masterpiece. Itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s slow, relaxing, and shows the listener that with The Blood Brothers, there are no limitations.
I could easily break down the rest of the songs and attempt to write a summary that will give you a feel of this record. I could easily put words together in the best form I can and manipulate your sense to think that you know how this record sounds. But I wonâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t. I wonâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t because this is one of those record that the essence of the record is indescribable. The only way for you to experience â┚¬Ã…”Young Machetesâ┚¬? is to listen to it for yourself and listen to each beat, each guitar string strung, each keyboard pressed, each vocal vibration.
The Blood Brothersâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ â┚¬Ã…”Young Machetesâ┚¬? will quickly surpass any expectation youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve had and it will even quicker, shatter whatever opinion you had of this band. The record is a masterpiece and after listening to it several times, you will find yourself noticing things that you havenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t before. The lyrics of this record are another story. They are extremely different than anything youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve read before, and they will leave you thinking for hours on what the hell they mean. The band members of The Blood Brothers have repetitively stated that the lyrics are up for the listener to interrupt, so start interrupting and start inferring your own meanings because there are no limitations on the context.
Buy this record and pop it into your CD player and pray to (insert religious figure here) that it doesnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t destroy your neatly, expensive CD player. â┚¬Ã…”Young Machetesâ┚¬? is something new and will leave you in a state of mind that is similar to the first time you broke the law or did something illegal. You feel like someone new, you feel different. You realize what youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve done and you probably shouldnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t like it but you do. You love it and you canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t get enough of it and you want more it in the quickest amount of time. Your addicted and the addiction is eating you away but it feels so damn good.
The Blood Brothers is the killer in the horror movie that you hate so much, but then you start realizing that you he isnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t so bad after all. The Blood Brothers is the ape and you are the environmentalist. They are the mentally disabled child and you are the only one that understands them and cares about them. The Blood Brothers is the band that will revolutionize music and you are the paranoid, yet intrigue listener that has been targeted by the revolution.
Track Listing:
1. Set Fire To The Face On Fire
2. We Ride Skeletal Lightning
3. Laser Life
4. Camouflage, Camouflage
5. You’re The Dream Unicorn!
6. Vital Beach
7. Spit Shine Your Black Clouds
8. 1, 2, 3, 4, Guitars
9. Lift The Veil, Kiss The Tank
10. Nausea Shreds Yr Head
11. Rat Rider
12. Johnny Ripper
13. Huge Gold AK-47
14. Street Wars/Exotic Foxholes
15. Giant Swan