CD CHOICE: BRETONOther People's Problems Fat Cat ****
Why do musicians form bands? That’s a question a lot of musicians seldom ask themselves. It was a good idea once upon a time and now, years on, they’re still at it. In the case of south Londoners Breton, the band was formed as a vehicle for their films and visual work, but it quickly became a whole lot more than that.
Over the past two years, Breton have come across as one of the more interesting acts dwelling in that Venn diagram between indie rock and electronica. While comparisons may pin Breton in a pen with Foals and other skinny-indie yelpers, it’s not quite as simple as branding Roman Rappak and friends with that tag.
Early releases on dubstep producer Untold’s Hemlock label further propagated the notion of Breton as indielectronica dabblers, but they are involved in more than paying lip service to semantics. Here’s a band who really have something that sets them apart from the pack – and not just their BretonLABS video sideline housed in a disused bank in London. The difference is that Breton write songs that are both adventurous and downright infectious.
Other People’s Problems is an album brimming with the buggers, an album loaded with great accidental pop tunes, wayward electronic grooves and laudable ambitions. Throughout, there is clear evidence that Breton’s biggest strength is an attention to detail that gives their wobbly, coruscating, enigmatic tunes a very distinct sheen. From the magnetic, mesmeric swirls of Jostle and Governing Correctly to the instant wallop of Interference and Edward the Confessor, Breton keep aiming higher and higher.
Other People's Problems is a magnificently honed state- of-the-art creation, an album where the musicians' evident curiosity about what they can do with all the technology they have at their disposal coincides with the abundance of natural talent required to write songs that stick in your mind. Now, that's a good reason to stay in a band. facebook.com/bretonlabs
Download tracks:Jostle, Governing Correctly, Interference, Electrician
