Review Summary: An excellent demo from an up and coming emo/indie/post-rock band that will soon take the emo community by storm whether they're ready or not.
Brave Bird really take their time. They make sure to flesh their songs out to reach their full potential. Each song on
Ready Or Not is between four and five minutes, and while that might not seem very long, it is for the genre. Brave Bird are one of the two dozen or so emo bands signed to Count Your Lucky Stars Records and they certainly sound like it. Most of the bands on this label sound pretty similar, each band usually has one or two differences that sets them apart. For Brave Bird it's their relatively long songs and their ability to sound fun while still playing relatively slow. This is close the party emo of bands like Snowing, but it has a lot more post-rock influences and is not upbeat all the time. It's got the rough vocals that would be unbearable in any other genre, the math rock esque twinkles, and the gang vocals.The three piece from Michigan aren't just another emo band, the post-rock and indie edge they give to their sound is not only highly enjoyable, but a deeper experience than most emo bands.
Brave Bird are basically three bands rolled into one. Most of the songs on
Ready Or Not seem to have a twinkly emo part, a post-rock part, and an indie part to them. The band is able to seamlessly transition between these genres and blend them in an interesting way. They don't blend them all at the same time like A Bunny's Caravan did, they keep them separate but equal. While most of the songs on Ready Or Not follow this formula, the best example of this quirk is the third track "The Worst Things Happen To Me." The song starts off sounding almost like Brand New with it's double tracked lower register vocals and palm muted bass line, then without hesitation the band starts throwing out these impeccable twinkly math rock riffs and take the whole song in another direction. The third act of the song brings on a nice build up and level off that finishes the track nicely. Brave Bird seem to know the exact moment to inject one of their styles into a song to really push it over the top into greatness. One instance of this is on "Healthy" when the finger picked twinkle riff fades into a post-rock build up section with a sample that sounds like a foreign film or something like that. Brave Bird almost seem like they aren't sure what kind of band they want to be yet and this is understandable considering
Ready Or Not is a demo. It doesn't matter anyway because their sound works.
Ready Or Not is a demo that's a step above most bands in the scene's full length albums.
With everything Brave Bird has going for them on this record it's hard to believe
Ready Or Not is a demo. From the fun sing along chorus of the first track "Scared Enough" to the somber acoustic closer "See You Next Year" Brave Bird brings a lot to the table and manage to have a deeper meaning while still sounding fun. It's rare for that band that has been together for such a short time has established an original sound that most bands will never achieve.
Ready Or Not is the perfect album title for a young talented band ready to take the emo world by storm.
