Search - Myracle Brah :: Treblemaker

Not their best, but pretty good!

Peter Olafson | La Jolla, CA USA | 01/08/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Myracle Brah's fifth album is a good effort for this stellar hard pop band--a return to traditional album format after 2002's relatively experimental (though under-rated) Bleeder that nevertheless never quite hits the highs of '98's Life on Planet Eartsnop and 2000's The Myracle Brah. Within, you'll find seven good to great songs recorded in a pleasantly raucous, live-in-the-studio style. "Modern World" is a Myracle Brah classic; the band of "I'd Rather Be" returns with a blast. (Wonderful that they left in the drawing-in of breath that kicks off the song.) "This Is Where We Belong" melds Who-like aggression in the verses to a Merseybeat chorus. "When She Comes Around" (a brighter version of the song which appeared on the Japanese release of Life on Planet Eartsnop) and "Climbing On A Star" are the kind of crunchy confections that Andy Bopp seems to knock off with ease. "Be Your Lover" features a "Drive My Car"-like lick (one of a couple of obscure Beatle homages on the CD). And "A Hole in My Head" and "The Most Important Subject" are slow and spartan, lovely and melancholy. Sadly, but for "Modern World," the album tends to roll downhill in its second half. Myracle Brah's filler sometimes flirts with brilliance, but "Think About You," "Heedless Headless," "Go" and "Runaway" could be anybody. ("Runaway" in particular sounds as though it should be played over the out credits of a 1980s romantic comedy.) But, heck, that's seven out of 11. How many bands can match that percentage? And "Go" is growing on me. :)"