The Brother Kite

The Brother Kite have long excelled at creating damn fine atmospheric fare, dating back to their 2004 self-titled debut album. TBK's new full-length Isolation (Clairecords) just shot their sunny harmonies and creative arrangements through the stratosphere. It's one of the best albums we've encountered this year, and for fans of Death Cab and the Helio Sequence — consider Isolation must-own material. The Brother Kite will close out the Rock & Roll Yard Sale at the Met on Sunday, along with a stellar local lineup that features the Rice Cakes, Ben Pilgrim, the 'Mericans, Detroit Rebellion, and many more.

In 2002, Patrick Boutwell and Jon Downs recruited guitarist Mark Howard and bassist Andrea Mason (now Andrea Downs) and recorded their debut, and soon after the decade-lost term "shoegaze rock" was branded onto TBK (check out fuzzy, standout tracks "Porcelain," "Death Ray," and "The Blackout"), a term that doesn't sit all that well with the band nowadays.

"I'm probably the only one bothered by the fact we still get referred to as shoegazer," Boutwell told me earlier this week, "mainly because I know we're much more than that. I think Coldplay is more 'shoegazey' than we are.

"When we first started, I wanted a My Bloody Valentine-meets-Superdrag-type sound, and I think we achieved that," Boutwell continued. "But our interests eventually drifted toward making music with more complex harmonies and creative arrangements."

The band built a studio in the woods of New Hampshire and recorded their 2006 sophomore effort, Waiting For the Time To Be Right (The Moonlit Race EP followed in 2007). TBK veered more toward Band of Horses and Built to Spill over Swervedriver and Slowdive. "Get On, Me" and "Hold Me Down" were vivid encapsulations of a band riding high on those atmospheric melodies and hooks (BoH fans will soak up the title track and "Never In Years"). Pitchfork even took notice:

"Brother Kite make music that floats, tethered to the ground by the thinnest of strings" with a sound that "glows like a cloud or contrail at sunset, bright at the edges with a sober-hued core."

Isolation opens with a slow burner, "Martyr for the Cause," but it's the latter half of the disc that really gets cooking. "Searching For the Light" is a gorgeous gem begging for radio airplay, the acoustic riff on "Constant Reminder" had me thinking of Filter's "Take a Picture," and "Keep Moving" and "Awakened" are two more reasons to pick up this album immediately.

TBK will continue to book shows between here and Boston, along with plans to hit South By Southwest in 2011. "Touring gets harder as you get older," Downs said. "Overall I think we're just less impulsive about it now as opposed to early on. Back then we were more willing to hop in a van and sleep on floors."

A EP of unreleased material, Eye to Eye, will be out in November, as the band continues working with the Gainesville, Florida label Clairecords. They enlisted San Fran-based label Monolathe to release the vinyl edition of Isolation, and guitarist Howard reports the band will issue a seven-inch (two live faves, "Aching Heart" and "Clear Conscience") on their new DIY imprint, Light Fighter Records. - Providence Phoenix

My love for The Brother Kite dates back to fall of 2002, when a high school friend visited me freshman year from UNH with a demo of the quintet on his iPod. Then I found myself listening to their debut thebrotherkite in 2005 while interning at a record label; it was one of two records I felt strongly enough to have the bossman listen to. When I moved out west in September 2006, their followup Waiting for the Time to be Right seemed to capture just about everything necessary for my travels. Now the band is finally back with Isolation, and its fall release is just as fitting as the last.

In other worlds, thousands of critics and fans are going on in length about differences in the band’s catalog, discussing their transition from shoegaze-chameleons to confident pop composers, dissecting the risks taken on this third LP and whether they deliver. Unfortunately, that world is not ours, and that’s a shame because The Brother Kite take chances like very few pop bands do.

“Isolation” seems to contain a sentiment found throughout the album: The Brother Kite does not need a single critic or fan to justify the quality of their music. Starting with just a pulsing keyboard, the band maps out a path of twists and turns before pointing the thing straight downhill. The energy snowballs to the point of sonic destruction, only to return to where it began; extremely remarkable for a three and a half minute song.

The band returns to the Boston area for a show at The Rosebud Diner on November 12th and an AS220 show back in their Providence homebase on the 13th. It sounds like they have an EP and 7” in the queue as well, so there’s plenty to go around. Pass this onto Ben Gibbard, tell him to get back to work. - Sippy Cup Everything

The third full-length release from Providence, Rhode Island's The Brother Kite. The folks in this band have been writing and recording music since 2002. Although they remain somewhat of an underground band, the folks who love their music really love it (and that includes us, of course). Isolation may be the band's most direct and accessible album yet. But if you're expecting sell out crap, think again. Even though these songs have the potential to appeal to a wider range of listeners, they are by no means generic twenty-first century junk. These tracks are heady and ultimately dreamy...and they feature some of the most cerebral arrangements we've heard this year. At the heart of the band's songs are vocals...those wonderfully fine-tuned vocals that sound so great that they give us chills. If you've never heard this band, Isolation will serve as an excellent introduction. Hopefully this album will expand the band's fan base exponentially. This will easily end up being one of the best albums to be released in 2010. Superbly executed tracks include "Martyr For the Cause," "Isolation," "The Great Divide," and "The Pasture." TOP PICK. - BabySue

You can ask anyone that knows me really well and they’ll tell you that Waiting For The Time To Be Right by The Brother Kite is one of my all-time favorite records. All-time. I know, you’ve never heard of The Brother Kite (some of you may have, and that’s awesome), and the reasons you haven’t are beyond me. By all rights, this band should be a band that people have heard of. This band should be a band that is on a supportive record label and tours the country occasionally, overseas even (they’re from Providence). This should be one of those bands I’m always reading about or hearing snippets of in Volkwagon commercials. They are incredible. Think Brian Wilson and My Bloody Valentine playing The Bends. Lazy criticism, I know, but you really need those three reference points if you’re going to discuss these guys properly. What made the band so compelling to me initially (besides the music, duh) was their total obscurity – and this was in 2006. I assumed people would eventually hear Waiting through word of mouth or something, the band would land a high-profile opening slot for someone and the rest would follow. Never happened. Three years passed before word of new material finally made its way to my inbox. Then the delays. I had just about given up on ever hearing new The Brother Kite songs until finally they announced a late-2010 release date – which brings us to Isolation. I had been warned that the songs were scaled back. No more Spector-scapes and crashing choruses. Less Beach Boys, more Beach House. The speculation only added to my anticipation – there’s nothing better than a great band going off the deep end – which they do here, albeit effectively. Isolation is a big, ambitious record. There are more moments of calm then before, less reliance on reverb and distortion, and a much heavier electronic presence. There are great pop songs (“The Scene Is Changing”), big-sky shout alongs (“The Great Divide”) and brooding escapist motifs (“The Pasture”). Patrick Boutwell and Jon Downs continue to deliver stunning guitar textures and the entire group lends voice to the beautiful harmonies throughout. I can’t say this record does more for me than Waiting did – or still does, for that matter; that’s a great fucking record – but I delight in the fact that this band still exists, despite all apparent odds being stacked against them, and that Isolation was even created in the first place. I can’t recommend this band highly enough. Now if we can only get someone from Sub Pop or Merge to read this review... – AW - RecoilMag