Lineup: Raphaelle Standell-Preston (lead vocals, guitar), Austin Tufts (drums, vocals), Katie Lee (keyboards, vocals), Taylor Smith (bass, guitar, drums, vocals)
Genre: Art rock, Experimental rock, Shoegaze, Post-rock
Originally hailing from Calgary, Alberta, BRAIDS are one of those bands that I find difficult to pen into one genre of music; they have a sort of art rock feel to them sounding a bit like a darker Yeasayer mixed with The xx.
BRAIDS self released the Set Pieces EP in 2008 and went on to release their debut album Native Speaker via Flemish Eye/Kanine Records earlier this year. The album consists of 7 superbly produced tracks, and if this was a Vaccines album that would probably only offer you about 7 minutes worth of songs. BRAIDS on the other hand have created songs that seem to linger, in a really good way, with 4 songs on the album stretching well over the 6 minute mark.
I remember sitting on my laptop at 2am flicking through Spotify when I stumbled across BRAIDS. I instantly stuck the repeat button on and began my love affair with the band. This is definitely a band I would love to have known about when they first formed so I could have tracked their progress from day one. Not in a stalkerish way mind you. Hopefully they continue to get the recognition they deserve and go onto achieve even greater success with many more albums to come.
Highlights from the album include ‘Lemonade’, my personal favourite ‘Glass Deers’ and a slightly odd ‘Plath Heart’ video.
Stream: ‘Lemonade’
Stream: ‘Glass Deers’
Listen to BRAIDS on
Lastfm
Myspace
Spotify
By Luke Boobyer
