The Brood

The Brood is a Canadian band that has managed to assimilate perfectly all the influences acquired over these years. Lovers of the sounds of Devo The B52s or Frank Zappa, the training has left us with nice details of everything they are capable of doing. Good sample was his most recent EP Deranged Love , reflecting the scent and rips characteristic of the sixties lounge rock along with a few ramblings around the effervescence of movements somewhat related to mod hangover. However on his first LP entitled Transistorpublished by Seayou Records, go beyond hallucinating his proposal to reflect a much more spatial and close to art rock face. Therefore it is not surprising that throughout the work we move from the warmer to the American song as in 'Dunvegan' to jump to that section of more anarchic structure, almost close to Ariel Pink, which well show in 'Shackin' Up in Tijuana. ' - Mindies

All too often, bands who thrive in a live environment can’t always capture the same energy when trying to carry it over and capture it in the studio. The Brood’s debut full-length album Transistor has managed to break the mould, and lets you hear almost exactly what you’ll get in their live show (less the 6-minute jams and improvs). The Brood combine experimental indie rock with new wave sounds similar to the B-52s and obvious draws from Frank Zappa. After two killer EPs (in my humble opinion), this is a long awaited full-length.

The Brood is full of some of the most under-rated musicians in the Halifax scene. With Seamus on vox and guitars, who isn’t afraid to take a jazzed-out extended solo whenever possible, Siobhan using every viable effect on the keys to transform every song into something completely different than the last, Billy taking walks on the bass guitar that force you to bite your lip and bop your head, and Matt’s tight fills that run the songs transitions from one off-timed masterpiece to another, this band has musicianship oozing out their ears.

A track like “Chicken Cheese Beer” kicks your teeth out from the opening riff of the album. Screeching guitars, a marching bass line, and spaced out keys come together to create a new wave sound that would have Devo shitting their over-sized yellow Hazmat suits. Even when The Brood slows things down on tracks like “Sapphire Blue,” they can’t help but turn it into a different song, not dissimilar to Dire Straits, for a minute at the midpoint. Billy once described it as a song sandwich. When the song starts, it’s one thing, then they veer off into completely different territories, only to come back to the original sound that make you say, “OHHHHH IT’S STILL THE SAME SONG.”

Lyrically, one might not think this band is taking their craft very seriously. They utilize their wit to convey issues that they deal with. Where Arcade Fire has “Sprawls II” about the dregs of living in the Suburbs, the Brood have “Exile in Suburbia.” “Hey now, it ain’t all that bad/I know it ain’t no bachelor pad/Finished basement, frosted beers/We’ll play foozeball for years and years” they claim before, again, tearing into a breakdown of jamtastic proportions.

One of my favourite parts of the album is knowing that the next time I see them live, I’ll know when the jams will take place. Seeing them at Nova Scotia Music Week last year opening for Joel Plaskett was a game changer on my love for them. Only playing about 6 songs in a half hour set is astounding. I would put their jam-ability up against anyone else’s in the game (watch out Umphrey’s McGee).

Check out them on all their socials- Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and their website. - Halifax Bloggers

For the unfamiliar, our flagship series Chef's Night Out documents the boozy, freewheeling social lives of both well-established and up-and-coming chefs around the world, exploring what and where they like to eat and drink during their free time. An episode might feature, say, some tattooed chefs baking experimental pizzas in the hallowed brick ovens of Brooklyn's Roberta's, then jumping in a chartered van to drink cocktails and raid famous Lower East Side Chinese joints. We’re dang proud of the series, which serves as a portrait of the fast-paced food culture shared by young people in high-end kitchens from New York to London to San Francisco and beyond.

So we were intrigued to hear that a Halifax, Nova Scotia psych-rock trio called The Brood filmed a truly impressive Chef's Night Out parody for their latest music video. The song is (naturally) called "Munchies," and we join imaginary celebrity chef Marky Lake(!) on a journey through some of Nova Scotia's most exclusive watering holes.


Guitarist and vocalist Seamus Erksine tells MUNCHIES that the band wrote "Munchies" after binge-watching several episodes of Chef's Night Out (particularly Jamie Bissonnette's outstandingly raucous foray through New York), and that it lyrically references the strange, Millennial reality of 2018, where making cheese is cooler than making music: "You used to be a fun rocker / now you're rocking the foie gras."

Marky Lake is played by local Halifax actor Paul Doucette, a beardy, flannel-y guy who does an uncanny impression of a cocksure man-of-the-town cuisinier. "Who was the guy? He was the Sandman in Spider-Man 3, that movie is underrated," he says in the episode, poking fun at some chefs’ proclivity for name-dropping over beers and tacos. "Do you know that I know the guy from Alexisonfire?"


He then invites The Brood back to his bar, announcing that, "The point of the night we're at right now—just like my favorite band LMFAO, it's time for some shots." (There is certainly no shortage of shots on Chef’s Night Out.)

To be clear, Erksine says "Munchies" was not created out of any resentment for food people. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

"We all love food, and it's nice to explore that world," he explained to me. "Plus, watching Chef's Night Out is vicariously going out with friends, eating decadent food and getting drunk. So we're fans of that!" Also, the music video does offer a pretty solid tour of the Halifax bar scene.

So, at MUNCHIES, it only makes sense that as a self-deprecating gesture we present the video for "Munchies," which you can watch above. You can also find the song, which frankly ain't bad, on The Brood's latest album, Transistor, which is available on Bandcamp.

And for the record, bassist Billy Taylor Habib is the best cook in the band. "He's got great flavor profiles. Simple, rustic, but elevated," says Erksine. "You simply must try his madras chicken curry." - VICE

The Brood might have called their first full album Transistor, but they could very well have meant Flux Capacitor. Like a bunch of Marty McFlys in a Bricklin, they’re not all that great at time travelling. On the other hand, the result is a beautiful smorgasbord of late 20th century radio hits, like someone produced the album after glossing over the cliffnotes of pop music.


Bizarre as it is, it’s hard not to like Transistor. They’ve drawn from so many influences that there’s bound to be something in there you love.

‘Chicken Cheese Beer’ immediately steps to the right into a synth laden jumper of late night meal-plan woes that would be right at home in Rocky Horror Picture Show. Siobhan Martin plays like an electric Gould, nailing down the flavour of the album with the kind of kitsch-camp that’s ridiculous but executed with such a skillful ear for the genre-like cornucopia that you have to admire it. While you can hear the tightness of a band that have played together their whole lives, it’s Martin’s keys and Habib’s bass playing off each other that sets the tone for the album.

Transistor then follows with ‘The Don’, the sort of 80s hit that’s reminiscent of Huey Lewis and the News’ groundbreaking album Sports. The song’s uptempo chorus paired with themes of megalomania provide the listener something to consider as well as give the album a real boost.

‘Exile In Suburbia’ loses itself somewhere between Link Wray, the middle east, and a lifetime of dish soap commercial jingles. It’s par for the course in the ubiquitous struggle for self-expression and definition amongst cookie-cutter row houses.

‘Munchies’ sounds like the celebrity chef theme song crafted by Frank Zappa over a funky disco Hall & Oates track. From there we touch on Gilbert O’Sullivan meets 10cc in the sentimental ‘First Day Of School’ before getting into the RUSH-esque instrumental ‘Sex Ed’ and the Electric Light Orchestra meets your Under the Sea themed prom night track ‘Night Beach.’ The album finishes with the jam-powered ‘The Weekend,’ which The Brood will presumably be using as their midnight closer all festival season long.

Where another band might have ripped off their idols, The Brood have taken them as raw ingredients and injected them mad-lib style. There’s enough mixing and matching to keep it creative and still safely plant the band’s freak flag over it, but satisfies those of us who want to know what it sounds like to have A Flock Of Seagulls do a Frank Zappa song. - The East

7. The Brood at Nova Scotia Music Week, Truro, 06/11/17
There was plenty to take in at NSMW. Everyone was new, emerging – and brilliant. The Brood were among the best. They have a healthy balance of tongue-in-cheek much-rock such as ‘Chicken Cheese & Beer’ country banger ‘Dunvegan’, and the sleaze prog of ‘Shackin’ Up In Tijuana’. Whilst they still seem to inhabit a studenty vibe, the capability of each musician means they have the capacity to become any band they want and will inevitably morph their sound as their life experience grows. We wouldn't put it past them to support a major band on a world tour soon. (CT) - GigWise