THE BROBECKS

So, around these parts, Dallon Weekes is known as "that guy who played bass for Panic! at the Disco during their tour dates this summer." But Weekes is also the frontman/sole permanent member of a band known as The Brobecks, who have been making music since 2002 and just released their newest album, Violent Things, on iTunes.

As for how one describes the music on Violent Things? Well, normally when I write a review, I try to default to "it kind of sounds like [band a]." I dislike doing that a lot of the time, but it's really the easiest way for me to say "Hey, if you like [a] you will like [b]." The problem with Violent Things is that every time I thought I had a good analogy down for the sound, it was immediately undone by the next track. By the end, I had an entire list of "well, it kinda sounds like..." bands and that's when it hit me that I couldn't do that with this album because the only thing it really sounds like is The Brobecks.

Apparently, the music is sometimes referred to as "19th Century Indie Pop," which I will agree with to a certain extent. There's a lot of stuff that had a very vaudville feel to it, but with added modern touches and fantastic synth and guitar lines. Then there was some stuff that threw in more synth and felt a little more like some of the modern dance/punk/rock bands. Then some funk vibes creep in on "The Visitation of the Ghost." And then there's tracks that seem to come out of the blue, like "Love at First Sight" and "Bored."

The only big issue I had with the album is that, because of all the different sounds, it was almost schitzophrenic at times. While I appreciated all the different sounds, at times it seemed a little much and made it a bit difficult to get into the groove. However, I will take that by far over an album where every track sounds the same.

Plus, the album is tied together by Weekes' vocals and lyrics. The vocals are emotive, there's an honesty to them that jumps out at you. He manages to go from bitter, post-break-up anger to sincere declaration of love without batting an eyelash. And his lyrics, even on some of the more upbeat tracks, flirt with darker aspects. While listening to the first track "If You Like It Or Not," I was ready to write it off when the hook began with the lyrics "Oh my girl, oh my girl, just give me a chance,/I don't want to explain, I just want to dance." And then when the follow-up line was On the graves, on the graves, of every girl,/That I knew before you, that are dead to me too," I realized that Weekes has a talent for lyrical misdirection.

Stand out tracks, for me, included "Small Cuts," (which sounds like something you'd hear played at an Addams Family ball) "Love at First Sight," "Visitation of the Ghost" and "Second Boys Will Be First Choice." Interestingly enough (and I did not know this before I listened to the album) those are all tracks you can listen to at The Brobecks' Myspace page. While there were a few "take-it-or-leave-it" tracks for me, all in all there was nothing I totally disliked. And the strength of the tracks I do like, especially the uber catchy hooks, outweighs the stuff I might skip over.

I will allow myself one comparison, if only for reference sake. First of all, if you like the idea of Panic! meshing together the sounds of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and Pretty. Odd. then you should listen to this. Because that's vaguely the sound here...only that's also not it at all.

Because as I said in the beginning, there's really no one to one correlation for this. And in a day and age where you might get a great group and then 30 derivative sound-alikes, something like Violent Things is refreshing to hear.

http://newageamazon.buzznet.com/user/journal/4620921/ - BUZZNET -Newageamazon

As I sit here by candle (and laptop) light and construct this review, I'm hit by an eerie feeling of belonging. The Brobecks', or, put more simply, Dallon Weekes' latest album, Violent Things just seems to fit in this dramatic setting. Of course, Violent Things seems to be akin to a chameleon, an album that matches the mood, whatever that mood may be. While it's certainly great in this moody setting, I have no issue blasting this from my car windows while I tread through the last few windows-down days of the summer. Violent Things, though certainly swimming around in a genre that's normally a shallow pool, tends to dip into much more intelligent water at times.

The Brobecks, Dallon Weekes' (now of Panic! At the Disco) nearly solo project, is a fusion of orchestra and pop. The tracks have lush backing, with Weekes pulling in a number of his friends to provide instrumentation (including an ambitious figure we all know from The Dear Hunter). Weekes obviously has a preference towards fuzzy synth lines and full-bodied drums, which he makes evident throughout nearly every track. For this genre, it's strange to see the pressure being taken off the guitars, but alas, it is. These cuts are crafted out of quirky fusions of percussion, bass and an ever-lively synth in addition to varied instruments (such as horns and strings) brought in throughout the course of the album. The guitars are there, but I challenge you to follow them amongst the theatrical styling of the other instruments. Weekes' orchestration, however, is not where the album sways towards it's darker side; the instrumentation is nearly always lively and full, never meandering into a slow or droning pace. Despite this, it's Weekes' vocals and lyrics themselves that draw Violent Things towards its much more, dare I say it, violent side. His lyrics, normally somewhat quirky and, a little less often, cynical, are often rather endearing, despite a few squabbles (such as the line "I've told you fifteen dozen times/ and that's one-hundred-eighty times" that appears in "Goodnight Socialite").

Weekes' enters into the discord of the albums opener"Goodnight Socialite" with a Vaudevillian swagger normally reserved for the villains of Tim Burton movies. That raises an important point, and that point is: Violent Things plays, largely, like some form of play. While the songs don't fit together like, say, your prized Razia's Shadow, the opening lyrics, along with the common theme throughout the album paint this story of a relationship, and seemingly mischievious damsel, as a drama that navigates both ups and downs of a narrative. Throughout the first couple tracks, Weekes keeps his edgy persona alive, dropping lines like "I've got your knife inside my back,/ I've got your rope around my neck" in "Goodnight Socialite," and "Everybody knows, and I've said it before./ She takes off her clothes/ shakes me like I've not shaken before" in "If You Like It or Not." In favor of the charming tackiness of "Love At First Sight," the edginess is dropped for an eagerness that conveys infatuation behind lyrics like "Turn the lights off/ I'm in love./Wouldn't you like to, wouldn't you like to/ kiss her?" Seemingly simple, throughout the course of the album and the excellent (albeit sometimes simple) soundscapes that Weekes sets up, they fit perfectly. Continuing onward, we delve further into Weekes' mind with a number that, while on the surface is seemingly bubbly pop, manages to convey much more scathing lyrics. Comparing a girl to a dress (they're "beautiful, so smart, and no good" for him), he manages to squash in a little insecurity and social comment (and in this way, it's also much like the A+ track "Second Boys Will Be First Choice"). Traversing through the next third of the album, both the tracks "All of the Drugs" and "Bike Ride," while continuing to further disrobe his fatal partner, both fall short of the mean on Violent Things and are largely forgettable. "Small Cuts" gets the ball rolling again, and "The Nerve" just increases inertia (and sounds quite a bit like The Bravery, circa The Sun and the Moon). "I Will, Tonight," like "Bike Ride," is oddly produced differently than the rest of the album, and the two of them seem like older demos that were simply tacked onto the album last minute. "Le Velo Pour Deux" picks up the album's mood again before the nearly 7-minute "Boring" takes the album to previously uncharted territory and it serves as a pretty great closer despite the fairly monotonous lyrics.

Violent Things, to some, will be just another pop album to decorate the shelf between their beloved House of Heroes and Panic! albums. However, those that pay close enough attention and examine the detail that went into the crafting of this album will realize that it is, in fact, both fun and intelligent. Certain lyrical squabbles and cliches aside, Weekes' writing on this album is above and beyond most of his peers, and the instrumentation brought to the table by hims - Absolute Punk.net -Klatake

So, around these parts, Dallon Weekes is known as "that guy who played bass for Panic! at the Disco during their tour dates this summer." But Weekes is also the frontman/sole permanent member of a band known as The Brobecks, who have been making music since 2002 and just released their newest album, Violent Things, on iTunes.

As for how one describes the music on Violent Things? Well, normally when I write a review, I try to default to "it kind of sounds like [band a]." I dislike doing that a lot of the time, but it's really the easiest way for me to say "Hey, if you like [a] you will like [b]." The problem with Violent Things is that every time I thought I had a good analogy down for the sound, it was immediately undone by the next track. By the end, I had an entire list of "well, it kinda sounds like..." bands and that's when it hit me that I couldn't do that with this album because the only thing it really sounds like is The Brobecks.

Apparently, the music is sometimes referred to as "19th Century Indie Pop," which I will agree with to a certain extent. There's a lot of stuff that had a very vaudville feel to it, but with added modern touches and fantastic synth and guitar lines. Then there was some stuff that threw in more synth and felt a little more like some of the modern dance/punk/rock bands. Then some funk vibes creep in on "The Visitation of the Ghost." And then there's tracks that seem to come out of the blue, like "Love at First Sight" and "Bored."

The only big issue I had with the album is that, because of all the different sounds, it was almost schitzophrenic at times. While I appreciated all the different sounds, at times it seemed a little much and made it a bit difficult to get into the groove. However, I will take that by far over an album where every track sounds the same.

Plus, the album is tied together by Weekes' vocals and lyrics. The vocals are emotive, there's an honesty to them that jumps out at you. He manages to go from bitter, post-break-up anger to sincere declaration of love without batting an eyelash. And his lyrics, even on some of the more upbeat tracks, flirt with darker aspects. While listening to the first track "If You Like It Or Not," I was ready to write it off when the hook began with the lyrics "Oh my girl, oh my girl, just give me a chance,/I don't want to explain, I just want to dance." And then when the follow-up line was On the graves, on the graves, of every girl,/That I knew before you, that are dead to me too," I realized that Weekes has a talent for lyrical misdirection.

Stand out tracks, for me, included "Small Cuts," (which sounds like something you'd hear played at an Addams Family ball) "Love at First Sight," "Visitation of the Ghost" and "Second Boys Will Be First Choice." Interestingly enough (and I did not know this before I listened to the album) those are all tracks you can listen to at The Brobecks' Myspace page. While there were a few "take-it-or-leave-it" tracks for me, all in all there was nothing I totally disliked. And the strength of the tracks I do like, especially the uber catchy hooks, outweighs the stuff I might skip over.

I will allow myself one comparison, if only for reference sake. First of all, if you like the idea of Panic! meshing together the sounds of A Fever You Can't Sweat Out and Pretty. Odd. then you should listen to this. Because that's vaguely the sound here...only that's also not it at all.

Because as I said in the beginning, there's really no one to one correlation for this. And in a day and age where you might get a great group and then 30 derivative sound-alikes, something like Violent Things is refreshing to hear.

http://newageamazon.buzznet.com/user/journal/4620921/ - BUZZNET -Newageamazon