Brassphemy are a five-piece ska punk band from Peterborough, and have just released their first album, which quite honestly jumps from brilliantly catchy to just below the mark.
The problem with the album, is for every plus point, there happens to be a minus point. At times, the record shows good song writing abilities, with intelligent hooks and verses that make you want to dance. But unfortunately these points are often let down by slightly immature song structures and lyrics, and poor production.
The album centres around a Reel Big Fish style sound, but does seem to take influence from either side of the music spectrum; jazz, punk rock, swing and dance included. Songs like ‘Kiss Me’ and ‘Skeleton Ball’ are incredibly catchy numbers which would no doubt get any young ska fan bopping around their bedroom. I think this album verges on having a real commercial sound, one that could win them a lot of fans if they could be taken a bit more seriously. But with songs like ‘Anal Beard’ and ‘Dave the Pigeon’, you can imagine that a lot of people are going to write off the band as being a bit juvenile.
I’ve seen Brassphemy live a number of times, and I think they pull off their sound a lot better on stage. The best thing for the band to do at this stage would be to refine their sound and to try and get across their live energy on the next record. But luckily for them, the band are still young, and could easily be a force to be reckoned with in a few years.
Andrew C