From the ashes of The Detachment Kit comes BRONZE. Maybe it was the blow to the head at the Joe Strummer tribute show that made lead singer, Menard, break up his old band and start this one, but I kind of wish he had stuck with the old formula. Granted I’m a total sucker for the loud/quiet screaming dynamic of DK and I understand that musicians need to move on and grow as artists. Despite this, BRONZE sounds more dyi, more, uh, detached. Vocals are drowned in reverb, drums sound looped and filtered through someone’s laptop. The dynamic is kind of one-noted from song to song–too cutesy and fey and relatively not at all engaging with its timid instrumentation and falsetto twee. It’s nice to see Menard has a softer side, but even when they decide to rock out a little bit on “Count to Two,” it almost seems jokey and some weird attempt to fit into an idea of what hipsters want in their ironic rock n roll bands. Perhaps it’s the Brooklyn influence–the borough where sincerity goes to die. I may be giving this album too much shit considering it was a free download, but my hope is these guys get a proper recording suite and really get to the business of rockin’ out and give the effects a rest.
12
