Album review: BRAVE RIVAL- Fight or Flight

Independent (Release Date 16.08.24)

Brave Rival have become one of my favourite live bands over the past 18 months, with brilliant dual female vocals, excellent musicianship and a warm hearted stage show. 2022’s impressive debut album ‘Life’s Machine’ was a favourite among many colleagues at GRTR!, and fortunately with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign which even saw pledgers add backing vocals, this sophomore effort is finally here. It feels a little strange to consider this as a new album as many of these songs have been in the live set since I started following them, with some already released as singles.

One of the established live tracks, ‘Bad Choices’ opens with fuzz guitar from Ed ‘The Shred’ Clarke and a most immediate chorus. Both that and the heavier ‘Seventeen’ have an unexpectedly modern rock feel, and the soaring chorus could be from the first (and best) couple of Halestorm albums.

One of the great myths, perpetuated by various awards they have won, is that Brave Rival are a blues act. They have a much broader canvas, though ‘Stand Up’ is certainly a little bluesier with the raunchy vocals of Lindsey Bonnick and Chloe Josephine and a bit of harmonica playing from guest Will Wilde.

Those opening three songs are very direct in their approach, but the rest of the album takes a more adventurous and less instant approach, beginning with ‘Insane’: the vocals and arrangements have some of the trippiness of 1970’s Heart allied to an incredible wah-wah infused solo from Ed.

On another of those established live favourites, ‘Fairytale’, Lindsey’s pure vocal intro leads into a heavier rock out combined with some dark lyrics. ‘Heavy’ actually is far from that in musical terms but a soulful ballad with more beautiful sounding lead vocals and harmonies, which cries out for exposure on stations like Radio 2. The mellow mood is continued on the folk-influenced ‘All I Can Think Of Is You’- with some great harmonies until half way through it kicks up a gear with Chloe’s soaring vocals and a short but very sweet guitar solo.

One of the singles, ‘Five Years On’ rocks hard with a little of a swampy southern groove and a feisty venom in the lyrics, and ‘Unravelling’ is a surprisingly straight ahead melodic rocker with a crunchy riff before a return to more adventurous sounds.

‘Sink or Swim’, from whose lyrics the album takes its title, again starts slowly with a bass intro from Billy Dedman and beautiful vocal harmonising, but boasts quite an angry sounding chorus and an unconventional arrangement. ‘Blame the Voices’, as its gentle opening gives way to some dark guitar tones and ferocious drumming from Donna Peters, is another surprise which by the end is verging on symphonic metal.

The album ends with the near seven minute ‘Stars Upon My Scars’ which is probably the bluesiest of all the songs, including lengthy solos from Ed and a emotion drenched vocal display, one of many inspired by band members own past mental health and relationship struggles.

It’s an album impossible to pigeonhole- with influences across musical genres everywhere from the late sixties to the present day. It rocks a lot heavier than expected in places, yet I also love the way many of the songs build into something not always obvious at their start. With the wheel already invented, it is particularly hard to be original in the classic and blues rock field. It is therefore a rare treat to come across something as refreshing and imaginative as this masterpiece of an album. *****

Review by Andy Nathan

Gig review (Staines, February 2024)

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)