One of the best feelings in the world for me is when I discover an artist that just blows me away the very first time I hear their music.
I opened an e-mail this morning that contained a link to to the song “Loser” by the brother and sister duo The Belle Brigade. I was stopped dead in my tracks by the shimmering vocal harmonies and hauntingly gorgeous arrangement of the music. I love this song, I love this group and I can’t believe how good they sound.
The last time I was this smitten with a band was several years ago when I heard the album “Everything all the Time” by Band of Horses. There isn’t a bad or throwaway song on that album and judging by the four tracks I have heard by The Belle Brigade, I am pretty sure that their full length will be just as good. When’s the last time you could say that about an entire recording? Doesn’t happen that often, does it?
The band conjures up elements of Simon and Garfunkel, Fleetwood Mac, Linda Ronstadt and many other late ‘70s FM greats without sounding stuck in the past.
The vocals sound like they couldn’t possibly exist without one another for too long without evaporating into thin air. The guitars are folky at times but there is enough edge to tilt them toward rock at the right moments. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt that lyrically they can reach right through to your heart, tear it out and then make you feel like it’s the best thing that ever happened to you.
In order for a band to become hugely successful they need two things — they have to make great music and they have to be incredibly lucky. The Belle Brigade have the former in spades and are about to cash in on the latter as well when one of their songs will appear on the soundtrack to “Breaking Dawn,” the latest movie of the “Twilight”saga.
The Belle Brigade play at Fitzgerald’s in Houston, Texas on October 22, 2011.
