Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
The 5-piece band Bradless is treating Torontonians to a new degree of rock-and-roll intricacy. Their presence, while perhaps not yet felt on the scene at large, is unforgettable to the lucky few that have experienced their powerful dynamics and all-engulfing harmonic fullness. In a band full of songwriters, diversity is counterbalanced by familiarity as the members add their touches to each others' songs.
Vocal harmonies play a key role in Bradless' currently unreleased recordings--a collection of songs put together with very few resources and impressive results. An EP and LP are both in the works, but Bradless knows this will take time, and they plan to play as many shows as possible until then.
-Leigh Beadon
- writer for Planet Oz magazine
Saturday night at Hart House Matthew Barber Headlined U of T's Warchild Benefit show. The Warchild organization is important to many on campus, and the show was a financial success.
However that isn't what is of note here. That Warchild is a worthy cause is already accepted and that this show would be successful was expected. The biggest surprise of the night was the music itself.
Barber, among other artists present, has recieved attention as a talented local artist. However, a new and completely unknown band stole the show. Though you probably have never heard of them, the band that I'm talking about is called Bradless. They were, in fact, the opening act. However, they were a very hard act to follow. They exhibited a harmonic, melodic, and structural depth that was not witnessed again for the rest of the night.
Their complex 5-man vocal harmonies, multifaceted song structures, and sometimes strange instrumentation contributed to an overall sound that was bombastic and subtle at the same time, owing to countless different genres but somehow not falling into any of them. Bradless play rock music, with the melodic and harmonic strength of classic pop artists, but these are filtered through a plethora of influences, both mainstream and avant garde.
For instance, the driving intensity of indie and harder rock music is tempered with a melodic and harmonic element decended from the Beach Boys and other classic pop acts. The lyrics seem as inspired by contemporary Freak-Folk artists such as Davendera Banhart, and Joanna Newsom, as from classic lyricists such as Leonard Cohen. The band even bring a sense of the dreaded P-word, Prog, to the mix - crafting untraditional, often epic, song structures with an increased focus on the texture of the arrangements, and without Prog rock's much maligned showboating and boring solos.
However, excellent musicianship is still present, if used more subtly. Every member contributes strongly to the rich tapestry of intricate sounds that is their live show.
This is experimental rock music at its indescribable best.
Add to this an endearing stage presence and an unparallelled intensity, among the other bands present that night, if not amongst the Toronto Scene in General, and you have a recipe for success.
On the record, I predict that this band is going to get some serious attention in the Toronto indie scene in the near future.
The band have big plans for the future. Tim Rennie, guitarist for the group, and one of three lead singers, says, "I'm glad you liked us. This is our first show though... we've got alot of songs just about finished that we're going to be playing soon, and we're working on recording for future projects. Things are really just getting started for the current line up of the group. We're doing a whole different thing than before."
If you want to check them out, Bradless are playing at Oasis on College Street, with another innovative new band, The Haymakers on November 29th. Doors at 9pm.
-Cailin Bator - Cailin Bator
Discography
Upcoming Release (currently being recorded):
The Bradless EP
1. (I am a) Falling Bomb
2. Four Bent Bows
3. Dr. Zoidberg
4. The Love You Ditty
5. The Matt Damon Song
Hurricane LP
1. Catch the Lion
2. Diamond Clear
3. Circles
4. Eye
5. Catch the lion pt 2.
6. Oh No
7. Butterfly
8. Love Song
9. The Roof Falls In
10. I'm Invisible Once Again
11. I Won't Turn Off the Light
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
The evolution of Bradless has been slowly but steadily been rolling along since late 2002.
Bradless began as a hard rocking group of four (Tim Rennie, Justin Castator, Brad Barnett, and Joel Chisolm) but soon the lineup was pared down to core members Rennie and Castator. They then began releasing acousto-harmonic rays of sunshine into coffeehouses and record stores across Orangeville. Bradless, however, was eventually put on hold for a year, while Castator and Rennie focused on solo material. However, Bradless was not so easily cast aside and the two resumed as a three piece with Shawn Carroll adding an element of funk to the mix. Soon after, with the addition of Matthew Sharpe on drums, the lineup seemed cemented.
However the corruption, stress, and demands of stardom became too much for Carroll who is, at heart, stone free. He left the band on good terms and in his wake the notorius Pat Bramm, Toronto Indie Rocker of Daybreak fame, took over bass duties. As if things weren't getting complicated enough already, Castator returned to his roots and began manning the piano, bowing to housemate Daniel Dickson's far superior axe-skills. Dickson fleshed out what is the current and, most speculate, permanent lineup of the band.
After a few months of practice in private Bradless Began infiltrating the Toronto scene, their third show in their current incarnation being a headlining slot at Lee's Palace. In addition to their live shows, Bradless are currently working on two seperate albums for independent release. Songwriters Rennie and Dickson are working on their debut production collaboration, and Bradless' debut release, The Bradless EP. This EP will feature a few classic Bradless tracks, as well as a few of the classic Bradless tracks of tomorrow. It will be followed up by the Debut Bradless full length, Castator's Baby, the tentatively titled "Hurricane" LP. This is a story-album which focuses on themes such as Death, Love, Free Will, Diamonds and Lions. Bradless is affiliated with the Harmony Rainbow Collective, based in Orangeville Ontario, which has spawned fast-growing groups such as the Haymakers and the Faceless Lazers. A momentum is building up around the collective, and whatever happens next for Bradless promises to be big.
Bradless has been compared to the Microphones, Flaming Lips, Beck, Neutral Milk Hotel, Wilco, Eliott Smith, the Faceless Lazers and others, at one time or another, for one reason or another.
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