By: Peter Gaston

For New York's Lower East Side rock'n'rollers, an undoubtedly sad moment is bound to occur, the instant when the man or woman in that dirty, sticker-embalmed bathroom mirror goes from being super cool to utterly full of shit. On their debut album, Give Blood, British semi-supergroup Brakes brandish that mirror and violently brush off all the rails. It's the kind of scathing reality check no New York band would dare conceive, but maybe it's just the knee to the groin that a bloated, tired scene needs to reinvent itself.

"I heard about your band," smirks singer Eamon Hamilton (also of British Sea Power). "I couldn't help it / You were screaming in my ear / Coked-up asshole / Waiting for Liars." And after that same punter talks about all the industry folks he knows, and about how he met Electrelane, Hamilton closes the rant with an apt battle cry: "Whatever dude!" Hamilton introduces several other not-so-special folks, like the "princess in disguise" who's out "later on Ludlow lookin' for a living" ("NY Pie"), or the annoying person talking over a band's set: "Hi, how are you, what do you do, what do you listen to," rambles the inconsiderate shmuck, a line that's met with "Won't you shut the fuck up? I'm just trying to watch the band?" Later, "All Night Disco Party" doesn't skewer any additional stereotypes, but it does purport a cheeky pastiche of the Rapture-ous dance rock that still bewitches NYC.

In another savvy gesture, Brakes -- which also includes Electric Soft Parade's Tom and Alex White, and Tenderfoot's Marc Beatty -- marry these sardonic verses to taut, succinct musical morsels that clock in at under two minutes, even when the tempo isn't hyperactive. Instead, Brakes never come close to overextending each song's basic elements, something their ditzy target audience should surely appreciate.

Brakes will play two nights at New York's Pianos -- a club located right on the aforementioned Ludlow Street -- early next month. The jeers and cheers that night should sort out the morons from the keen. Give Blood is out now via Rough Trade America.

Brakes in NYC:
10/3-10/4, New York, NY (Pianos)

Link:
Brakes official site