Brindle

"Sexy, Blistering, Handclap rock for lovers of P.J Harvey and The Von Bondies" - HotPress Magazine

Pacifier were up next on the main stage. Due to previous run-ins with the band, I wasn’t keen on watching their performance, so I headed over to the Local-Produce stage, where I came across a Brisbane four-piece outfit ‘Brindle’ who had quite a large crowd generated. Female vocalist Deb Suckling, who has one heck of a voice, fronts the band. The moody tunes were over laced by emotive vocals that made the band stand out as a powerful rock act who had the crowd on their side. - Fanzine

Featured artist this week on www.amo.org.au with interviews and more... - www.amo.org.au

“Deb Suckling has a powerful voice reminiscent of PJ Harvey or Alison Mossheart from The Kills and the music varies from standard guitar pop to delightfully dark rock music.” 4/5
Tsunami Magazine


- Tsunami Magazine

The Liberator (Modern Music/Sony BMG) Time off June 2006

For the ignorant, Brindle are a shit-hot little Brissie band, known largely for a cracking rock sound and a powerful live show. ‘The Liberator’ is their latest single/video and it doesn’t disappoint, in fact it raises the bar another notch or two for a band who are already incredibly consistent. Destined for repeat radio plays, it’s blistering and drum-driven with a big pop hook all wrapped sweetly in a catchy rock anthem. Deb Suckling’s vocal soars on the hard-hitting chorus while the guitars, bass and drums provide the ultimate canvas for her to paint on. In a word, this song is hot! (BP)
- Time Off Magazibe

It's a sensational CD, great vocals, great feel and rhythm in the music. - 3MGB FM

BRINDLE
It Takes An Army (SugarRush/Modern Music/Sony BMG)

Six years and three EPs later, Brisbane four-piece Brindle deliver a stunning debut album that makes the long wait evaporate. A cohesive, consistent longplayer, it finds Brindle honing their craft and broad influences into a blend of intense rock without ever forgoing a melodic hook.

Standouts abound. The Liberator’ easily rates as one of the catchiest songs produced by a Brisbane act in recent memory (and should be destined for radio greatness), wrapping a tasty, rhythmic progression in a huge pop hook courtesy of Deb Suckling’s vocal melody. Ditto the Polly Harvey-esque venom of Two Steps’, dark rocker Lollipop Hooker’ and the candy-coated chorus of Fallout’. In fact, throughout the 12 tracks, it’s Suckling’s strident vocals that provide the glue (see the sugary sweetness of Closer’ and snarling tone of Fight You For It’).

In time, the work of guitarist Craig Spann, bassist Ben Moore and drummer Simon Walker proves equally compelling (see Car Chase Through A Rat Race’). Repeated spins reveal expressive layers, making It Takes An Army one of those rare albums that - without sounding like an ad for Viagra - combines instant gratification with sustained pleasure.
(Matt Connors)

- Time Off Magazine

AUSTRALIA'S ROCK PATCHWORK Ottawa Express March 2006

Back in 1977, Deb Suckling, the dynamic lead singer of Brindle, was
just
a cooing one-year-old when The Saints - Brisbane Australia's self
professed "most primitive band in the world" - unleashed their seminal
slice of punk perfection, the molten single "I'm Stranded."

"I can't honestly say I remember much about that," laughs Suckling over
the phone from Brisbane. It's hardly surprising given the tune is no
lullaby. And Suckling's mind is focused on the future: In addition to
basking in the glow of her role as a new mom, she's got a brand new
debut record (It Takes an Army) picking up steam, a new label (Funk
Folk Records) to manage, and an upcoming Aussie Invasion tour set to
conquer Canada. Along for the ride are hometown faces Giants Of
Science, The Gin Club and Iron On.

"I'm Stranded," as Suckling is now all too well aware, was the raw
ripple that turned into a tidal wave in Queensland's capital. From The
Saints and the Go-Betweens to the Hoodoo Gurus, Regurgitator and
Powderfinger, Brisbane has grown to become something of a musical haven
for the bold and brazen at heart, those "stranded" souls and musical
misfits working outside the conventional star-making machine hubs of
Sydney and Melbourne.

"There's just a real feeling of wanting to be independent here," says
Suckling of Brisbane's creative atmosphere. "We all work that much
harder, because we've got that many more hurdles to jump in getting
national exposure, away from the main music centres. We aren't
desperately trying to impress. There's definitely a bit of defiance."

It's evident in song titles like "The Liberator" and "Fight You for It"
and is very much at the heart of Brindle's alternately tough and tender
sonic personality.

Formed in 1998, the band - Suckling (vocals), Craig Spann (guitar), Ben
Moore (bass) and Simon Walker (drums) - started out with "more of an
acoustic style." Spurred on by the hard-hitting Walker ("We're all a
bit fanatical about the drumming side of things," says Suckland), and
over the course of seven years, three EPs and several singles, Brindle
shed its lightweight skin to fashion a kinetic, serrated pop squall
more in keeping with "its heavy live show." And heavy it is.

Driven by the twin engines of Walker's "rolling rhythms" and Suckling's
conflicted carnal wails, the bracing four-piece grits its collective
teeth to summarily stare down the "politics in the air," the lies
everywhere, both big and small, with white-knuckled ferocity. It Takes
an Army is a strident set of sweetened, swelling rock gut-churners akin
to Tanya Donnelly's Belly, albeit tighter, tougher and far more
visceral, sometimes to the point of uneasiness.

"We wanted to find the right balance between light and dark," says
Suckling of the band's evolution. "It was an emotional process, but I
think we finally found our voice."

See Australian Invasion at Zaphod's, Sunday March 5 at 7 p.m., $10.
(Steve Baylin)



- Ottawa Express