Blood donation

Long considered the first in a line of bands that would try to capitalize on the successful sound that defines synthpop contemporaries The Killers, The Bravery has turned to a louder, harsher sound to challenge this image on its new album.

Stir the Blood, released today on Island Records, is a quick, dirty and cold explosion of rock noise that borrows heavily from many sources in an attempt to mine a popular sound.

The Bravery's continued insistence on capturing a modernized form of the early '80s post-punk is both its defining feature and its downfall. There's nothing wrong with the once-revolutionary genre or the recent string of post-punk revivalist acts. However, post-punk doesn't really work for The Bravery because the musicians do not seem to pay full attention to their music's emotion.

"The Spectator" exemplifies the absence of emotion often found in both the lyrics and the fizzling synthesizer bass lines of the new album. Small electronic blips work out a weak melody while lead singer Sam Endicott reiterates repeatedly "I am the spectator/ I can see the world passing by from here." The song moves at a fair clip, but it never reaches beyond the musical events presented in the first few moments.

The track flows directly into "I Have Seen the Future," a song which dips much too deeply into 1980s pop music. As the song begins, the familiar chords of club classic "Blue Monday," by synth outfit New Order, come blasting through the speakers. The Bravery unapologetically disregards the genre-defining track and steals the infectious beat for itself.

Although the thievery never gets worse than that, it's hard to listen to Stir the Blood and not constantly imagine The Killers recording a session with heavy guitars and a faster pace. Even the quality of the recording is gritty — every track sounds as if it were recorded in garage with all the instruments pushed to maximum volume as Endicott wailed through a megaphone.

"Song For Jacob" sounds as if it is taken directly from The Killers' songbook and then infused with more grit. It's definitely a track that will get toes tapping and bodies moving; there's something very chilling and exciting about the way that Endicott shouts, "There's more inside of me than skin and bones." However, "Song for Jacob" is just a heavier version the same kind of music The Bravery has always made, which means it most likely won't turn the heads of any people who aren't already fans of the band.

Endicott's voice rises to its most emotionally pure on "Slow Poison," a song that brings to mind David Bowie's early '80s music. Featuring a strong melody over an insistent new wave drum beat, The Bravery's formula finally works out in its favor here because the track really sounds like a new Bowie composition.

Even with the accomplishments, the album's sparse 35 minutes don't give The Bravery much time to balance out the good and the bad material. Every song is swift and booming — so fast even that the band can't write enough interesting material to sustain such a pace.

At just less than three minutes, the blistering "Hatef–––" hits the listener with a spray of distorted, lightning-fast notes, but sounds unbelievably similar to some sort of lost Linkin Park track. This is The Bravery's get-out-jail-free card: The group rips its style from a relatively modern band as opposed to its usual stock of old-school '80s bands.

The record's length and persistent speed and aggression make it a great listen while driving or exercising, as Stir the Blood combines so many influences into one easily accessible package. The songs probably won't make listeners think, and they probably won't make listeners like The Bravery any more or any less, but they provide the perfect background noise for some daily activities.

Stir the Blood doesn't break any boundaries as far as the music is concerned. Though it tries to carve itself a recognizable niche for The Bravery, the album simply scrounges from too many well-known sources to give the listener the impression of originality.
zberman@umd.edu

RATING: 2 stars out of 5