Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
On Playing with the Light, Luke and Daniel Brindley create concise, guitar-driven power pop fattened by fuzzy Fender Rhodes organ and brotherly harmonies made possible only by a genetic link. Fans of the Gin Blossoms or pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Wilco will swoon to the disc's opening title track, with its bouncy melody over taut guitars; the piano-and-horn pomp of "Roman Candle"; and the chunky power chords of "Slow Burn" and "Supernova." Luke Brindley's linear narratives take you into Manhattan's entertaining East Village on the Jackson Browne-flavored "Hudson River" ("I'm sitting here in Peter Cooper Park/Street preacher punctuates each sentence with a bark"), but for most of the album he deals with family, friends and the restless ache that fills the passage of time in a romantic heart. With nine songs in thirty-four minutes, brevity is obviously important to the brothers Brindley, and they've seen enough performers to understand that it's a requirement in holding the attention of listeners -- when they're not playing, the two run Jammin' Java, a popular live music venue and coffeehouse in Vienna, Virginia. - Meredith Ochs
Brindleys' 'Light,' Shining Debut
By Joe Heim
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, January 28, 2004; Page C05
Who knew that Vienna, Va., would give birth to an early contender for one of the best albums of 2004? Locals Luke and Daniel Brindley, aka the Brindley Brothers, make a superb bid for any Top 10 list with their magical nine-song debut, "Playing With the Light," a straight-ahead rock/pop gem that impresses without trying too hard to and captivates with an abundance of catchy hooks and smart, heartfelt lyrics.
Though the disc is tinged with melancholy and uncertainty, an appealing spirit abides in these tunes. Neither overly naive nor depressingly jaded, they bob up and down on waves of joy and disappointment. The songs acknowledge darkness, yet strive to break free of it, as on the feisty rocker "Supernova," where Luke Brindley sings, "We all need something to light up the night / I've never thrown a punch, but I'm ready to fight / I'm no expert, but I'm willing to learn / I'm no supernova, but honey, I'm ready to burn."
Luke and Daniel Brindley's disc is tinged with melancholy and uncertainty, yet strives to break free. (David S. Holloway)
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That enduring spirit also finds its way to the near-mystical "Harder, Easier, Better" as well as the shimmering Beatlesque piano pop of "Roman Candle," where Luke hints at humor even when singing a pitifully sad line: "It's been too long, I've written 22 songs about how you've been gone. And that's not a good thing. Tell me, who wants to hear them?"
At other moments, the Brindleys -- who also own and operate Vienna's Jammin' Java club -- bring to mind an updated version of the best of '70s California rock. "The Crazy One" has the feel of a languid Eagles tune, while on the title track and "Hudson River" Luke Brindley sounds like an edgier Jackson Browne. Lovely harmonies and soaring horns add to the lush feel, and the exquisite production gives the album a full, meaty sound.
The Brindleys, who play guitar, piano and organ and sing, produced the album with Jared Bartlett and are helped out by a slew of musicians, including Jon Carroll, Jeff Lang, Harry Evans, Kevin McIntyre and Paul Barber.
Although the brothers' songs clearly reflect a wide array of influences (in addition to the '70s vibe, you can hear the mark of the Replacements here, Wilco there), this is in no way a record that lives in the past. The songs may not chart new territory musically, but they reflect a post-9/11 anxiety about life and a desire to find reasons to believe and people who share those beliefs.
The Brindleys also keep it admirably short. The CD clocks in at just 34 minutes -- near-perfect in an age when every performer seems to think more is more. Too many artists want to cram every sound they've ever uttered into the 70-plus minutes available on a standard CD. Face it, by Track 17 who's still paying attention? The Brindleys, on the other hand, keep your attention throughout.
Whether they can turn this small-label debut (available at www.brindleybrothers.com) into a major success story remains to be seen, but it is certainly worthy of attention. - Joe Heim
"ORIGINAL AND INFECTIOUS ROCK SONGS...CATCHY HOOKS, CLEVER BRIDGES, AND LITERATE LYRICS...REMARKABLY SOPHISTICATED ARRANGEMENTS." - Stephen Stone
"DECEPTIVELY DEEP AND BEAUTIFULLY REALIZED" - Larry O. Dean
"NO SONG WENT UNTOUCHED BY THE ENERGY AND PURE INFECTIOUS JOY OF THE BROTHER'S PERFORMANCE...A MASTERY OF POP SONGCRAFT AND STAGECRAFT" - Live Review
Luke Brindley's lyrics convey a haunting mistiness that is mirrored in the moody black-and-white photos of the CD booklet. Tasty dark vocal harmonies add to the effect, and Brindley propels his songs with catchy accompaniment vamps. A variety of influences is apparent in this debut collection, including the rambling acoustic environment of New Morning—era Dylan and the smokiness of early Townes Van Zandt vocals, while the melodies and fingerstyle guitar patterns bear a clear Bruce Cockburn stamp. At the same time, Brindley has his own compelling musical voice. It all adds up to a satisfying musical experience - Gary Joyner
Discography
Filled With Fire (2006)
Playing With the Light (2004)
How Faint the Whisper (2001)
Spring Song (2000)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
"Who started this fire and left it to burn?" asks Luke Brindley on "Angel," an elegiac track from the critically acclaimed Brindley Brothers' second album, Filled With Fire. "Now look behind us, all our yesterdays are gone." The eloquent and heartfelt "Filled With Fire," follows up the band's critically acclaimed Playing With the Light released in 2004.
Brindley Brothers is a Washington, DC based band led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Luke Brindley. Luke is joined by his brother Daniel on bass, keys and vocals and brother-in-law Jared Bartlett on guitar. Luke and Daniel both grew up in New Jersey, played in various bands and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with music degrees.
They began writing and performing together while attending university in 2000. The next year, they released an acoustic record, "How Faint the Whisper," under Luke's name. The record received high praise in such national magazines as Acoustic Guitar and Performing Songwriter. Soon after September 11th, the Brothers relocated to the Washington, DC area to open and operate Jammin' Java, a 200 seat music venue recently named one of Top 100 Clubs in the world by Pollstar.
The Brothers attribute a part of their musical evolution to their club. "We'd be completely different musicians if we hadn't had the experience of running this club together," says Daniel who with his brother has seen hundreds of performers, both local and national. "It's given us the chance to observe and pick apart the subtle things that separate a great band from a merely good one."
The Brothers' observations paid off. In 2004, the Brindley Brothers signed to Paste Records and released "Playing With the Light," which was hailed by The Washington Post as "magical...a pop/rock gem...an early contender for one of the best albums of 2004" and was named by Paste Magazine as one of the Top 12 Debut Records of 2004 (alongside other familiar names as Franz Ferdinand, Jem, Jamie Collum and more).
Rolling Stone said, "Fans of Wilco and Gin Blossoms will swoon." And fans have responded. The Brothers have sold several thousand copies of "Playing With the Light," received incredible press, toured extensively, appeared on numerous radio and television programs and have played and sold-out some of the best venues on the east coast.
Like the last album, "Filled With Fire" showcases the band's diversity and mastery of various pop styles dovetailed with smart, thoughtful lyrics - the visceral rock of "Rise Above" and "Hurricane", the power-pop of "Up All Night", the light-hearted pop of "Saturday Night", the euphoric and hopeful "Man on Fire", the mystical, meditative alt/folk of "Late Summer" and "Keep Me in Your Heart". Despite the musical variety, the songs and the performances are unified by their sincerity and passion.
"Filled With Fire" deals with the rediscovery of life, love, faith, compassion, hope, struggle and transcendence in a modern, post-belief world. "For this record, I had about 30 finished songs. We recorded a little more than half of them and 11 of those made it to the record. I don't always know what the song is about until much later. We took foster care of a special needs baby in 2005 and many of the songs were inspired by this experience. And, as usual, a lot of songs about New Jersey, light, highways and fire."
The band entered the studio in the Fall of 2005 with producer Jim Ebert (Butch Walker, Meredith Brooks, Matthew Ryan) to record. In order to capture the urgency and cohesiveness of a great rock band, the production team did much of the tracking live over the course of a week. Additional tracking was done over the next few months in various DC-area studios.
Filled With Fire was mixed by Jim Ebert and young, up-and-coming producer Jared Bartlett (guitarist in the Brindley Brothers) and mastered by NYC-based Fred Kevorkian (Ryan Adams, White Stripes, Jesse Mallin).
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