BRUCH
My Name Should Be Trouble [LP; Totally Wired]

I get down on myself sometimes when I sit down at the computer and a flood of florescent words don’t automatically start tumbling into the ‘Body’ portion of a review. That’s just me being a bitch, however, because bands go through the exact-same thing, toiling when no one’s watching in hopes that at some point notice might be taken. BRUCH, on the other hand, possess the bravado to just DO IT, no self-consciousness whatsoever. I’d argue that a little more forethought would have improved My Name Should Be Trouble, but that might be antithetical to BRUCH’s entire operation. You certainly don’t pump out two full-length albums and a collaboration (with Gran, whom we’ve also Cerb’d up a bit) in the space of a few years if you can’t cut it confidence-wise. So that’s how it is, and though I also take issue with the Elvis cues briefly taken by the singer, the runaway spirit of My Name is impossible not to get caught up in. It’s like 12 snapshots from disparate eras of life, taken with different brands of cameras according to which year it was, scattered on a bed and set to sound. My favorite cut is “Take Me Home Vienna” (What is it with Totally Wired bands and Vienna? First Crystal Soda Cream wanted to escape it, now BRUCH wants to idealize it?), a simple-enough railcar ride led by snappy (perhaps brushed?) drums and Pulp Fiction guitars and bolstered by deeply purred vocals somewhere between James Burroughs and a sedate Iggy Pop. From there “That’s What Love Is” or “Trouble” should be your next stops, the former an urgent smear of keys and lovely ladies’ lipstick, the latter a ballad of sorts filtered through 80s bubble-pop and 50s torch songs. Unfortunately, I can’t help you any longer, so gear up for this one and keep your mind open-open-open.

Links: Totally Wired

Cerberus

Cerberus seeks to document the spate of home recorders and backyard labels pressing limited-run LPs, 7-inches, cassettes, and objet d’art with unique packaging and unknown sound. We love everything about the overlooked or unappreciated. If you feel you fit such a category, email us here.

Most Read



Etc.