CD of The Week

Viva Brother, formerly known as simply Brother, are a four piece out of Slough, UK, who have released their debut record Famous First Words after much anticipation. Working with producer Stephen Street (The Smiths, Kaiser Cheifs, Blur) and showing their heavy Britpop influences, Viva Brother have put out a record that mixes the sounds of that time with the grit of today’s UK music scene.

One of the main attractions of this record is the vocals of frontman Leonard Newell. Through out the record, he whales, whines, and probably holds notes longer than he should, yet it all sounds great. He can go high and low and all around, which allows for a perfect Britpop type vocal that even Liam Gallagher would be proud of.

The album as whole is pretty quick, both tempo wise and time wise. It clocks in at just over 34 minutes. It opens with "New Years Day," which pulls you in with a catchy bassline and lots of “ooohs” and “owws”. From there, the album races along, taking you on a roller coaster type ride of twists and turns, never truly slowing down. The proof of this is in the last three songs of the record. Too often these days, bands mail in the last few tracks, but not Viva Brother. “Fly by Nights”, “False Alarm” and “Time Machine” are amongst the strongest songs on the record, with their classic Britpop guitar work and vocals and strong bass.

Viva Brother may come across as cocky considering the title of their record, but don’t let that stop you from giving this record a spin. They do a great job showing their influences, but still keeping a modern sound. Viva Brother will have a bright future if they keep up this type of work. You never know, maybe one day the title of this record will be justified.

Catch Viva Brother in their Philadelphia debut at Kung Fu Necktiethis Wednesday night, and hear their Y-Not Bunker Session that afternoon at 1pm!