Sunday, 20 January 2013

ALBUM REVIEW: BROWN BROGUES - BORN TO LOSE


Review by John Cooper

Listen Up Manchester rating 6/10

Manchester based duo Mark Vernon & Ben Mather better known as Brown Brogues release “Born to Lose”, their debut album.  After growing a good following with their fast and furious live shows, I was intrigued to listen to the album to see how it translates to record. I’m glad to say they haven’t tried to polish their sound up (at all), and still deliver their own brand of scuzzy garage rock guitar sound with a pumping rhythm throughout. Vocals are loud and distorted, sometimes verging on punk and the whole album has a very lo-fi approach, almost sloppy in parts – with the Brown Brogues however this is not a negative. I would however say as an album it doesn’t quite work as well as it should with abrupt song endings and in parts it being a bit too far on the lo-fi end making the vocals at times too hard to decipher, but having said that there are some stand out tracks on the album too. Our favourites being “Mike, I Love You”, “May I Walk With You” and “I Drove For Miles Just To Hear About The Book That You’re Reading.  All in all if you like a two-piece who can hit it hard and create a hell of a racket then you’ll thoroughly enjoy the Brown Brogues “Born to Lose” album, but to fully appreciate this band – go and see them live!

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