If you don't like this album, you hate good music.

Artist: Bracket
Album: Requiem
Label: Takeover Records
Tracks: 17
Length: 50:19
Review by: Christopher Thomas!

Bracket has been playing their unique brand of punk-tinged pop-rock for over a decade. And somehow this band is consistently relegated to the unknown shadows of the music world. Falling somewhere on the rock and roll spectrum between former labelmates NOFX and radio rock bands like Oasis and Weezer, Bracket spread high intensity music across a variety of styles and subject matter, wrapping their stories in patently original melodies and thick harmonies.

Even Requiem, Bracket’s newest and by far most ambitious record, will certainly be overlooked by the large majority. Yet somehow, they should count themselves fortunate. It would seem that the consistent ignorance of music fans only spurs on the band’s growth. Each album finds itself noticeably more mature than its predecessor, and Requiem is certainly no exception.

Bracket have always claimed the Beach Boys as an influence, as is evident by their well-wrought harmonies. But Requiem finds the band indulging more than usual, ultimately resulting in their own Pet Sounds. The harmonies are more evident, and songs frequently break from their straightforward rock to meander into a cappella, almost barbershop quartet-like territory, eventually finding their way back to the resolution.

At first listen, it may seem that the band has borrowed a bit too much from Brian Wilson and company, but subsequent listens reveal great depth and a well-honed craft, channeling Bracket’s sound through Wilson’s techniques like a painter’s ideas through a paintbrush. The result is a portrait of Warren, the sad-sap character about whom all of the songs on this record are written.

While every song deserves equal consideration, highlights of the album include the acoustic shuffle of “Warren’s Song Pt. 26,” the heartbreaking sentiments contained in “Warren’s Song Pt. 21,” and the gentle string quartet accompaniment of the album’s closer.

There are few shortcomings to this album, but it must be said that the production – the album was recorded, produced, and mixed entirely by the band – does occasionally leave something to be desired. The instrumentation choices and the playing are top-notch, but sonically the album is a little bottom-heavy. That being said, Requiem is the best, most complete record I have heard in a long time. Here’s to another decade of being ignored.