Brazos – Live Review - Best New Bands

New York – Tuesday night at the Mercury Lounge in Brooklyn was an intimate affair. Following a dynamic set by Ski Lodge, the energy at the venue was ready to boil over as Brazos took the stage around 10:45 PM. Yet, the show Brazos was about to deliver scaled down the frenzied atmosphere and reassembled the scene into a perfectly calming weeknight tempo.

An uninterrupted chain of chamber pop ballads that cue introspection, the 9-song set felt like sitting with Martin Crane and company in his bedroom while he crafted the alluring and heartening tracks. Amidst this suitable ambiance, the set at large was a warmly delivered performance and the sweetest sort of nightcap.

The openers for the evening brought a crew of fans, who bumped up against the stage and each other in the most fantastically unapologetic kind of dancing. Brazos’ bassist Spencer Zahn actually joined Ski Lodge for their final song, a surprising and well-welcomed cover of Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” The transition to the headliner had Breakfast Club fans swooning.

The mastermind behind Brazos is Martin Crane. After writing and recording two solo albums in Austin, Crane enlisted guitarist Nathan Stein and bassist Paul Price and Brazos was born. In the years that followed their first release, Phosphorescent Blues (2009), the gang opened for the likes of the National, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend and Iron & Wine, and shared a countrywide tour with White Denim.

After roaming the nation, Crane eventually came to Brooklyn and signed onto Dead Oceans. Reincarnating his vision for Brazos, he linked up with bassist Spencer Zahn and percussionist Ian Chang. The second release from Brazos, Saltwater (2013), is the result of a productive and reconstructive interlude, and the set list on Tuesday was pulled almost exclusively from the latest album.

Saltwater is a devastatingly pretty pile of songs. Performed live, they came through with an impossibly heightened sense of grace and lightness. Tracks like “One Note Pillow,” “Charm” and “Deeper Feelings” shine through live with even more softness and sincerity than their recorded counterparts. Others, like “How the Ranks Was Won” and “Always On” balanced out the set with the perfect amount of edge.

Of the album at large, Crane said it best via Dead Oceans, “I think this record is about learning how to be alone. And I think that’s how it’s spiritual. You can’t actually love anything if you need it.” A sage observation, it rings true of the sentiment Saltwater inspires. An exercise in meditation, sit in solitude with this album for a time. Let the songs wash over you repeatedly. They unfold, as they did over the close-knit crowd at Mercury Lounge, with an enlightened air.

Never dissonant, always mad pretty, Brazos played beautifully on Tuesday night. A bittersweet event, the group was on the last leg of their December-long tour and this was their last scheduled show. Be alert for news of the group in the months to come. If you need some Brazos face time meanwhile, check out the new video for “Charm.” Viewers be warned, truly an inspired and in-depth look into Cranes’ mind, the video is brutal in its method.

Photos By Liz Rowley

About
Latest Posts

Liz Rowley

Born in Mexico and raised in Toronto, Jerusalem and Chicago by a pair of journalists, Liz comes to BestNewBands.com with an inherited love of writing. After discovering a niche for herself in music journalism and radio while at Bates College in Maine, she always keeps a running playlist of new music to soundtrack her place in the world. Liz is passionate about helping dedicated, talented musicians gain the exposure they deserve. A recent transplant to Brooklyn from Hawaii, she is plagued by an incurable case of wanderlust and cursed with an affinity for old maps and old things like typewriters and vintage books. She adores photography and running and is very good with plants. Having come of age in Chicago, Wilco speaks to her soul. If she could be anything, she would be a cat in a Murakami novel.