Album Details

• Artist: The Brian Jacket Letdown
• EP:
Eat Your Friends
• Label: Genepool Records
• Year of Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: mschmitt on 2007-04-20

Budded from a surreal childhood friendship, classical pianist Tom Phillips and puppeteer Will Harper make up The Brian Jacket Letdown—a collection of English, Brazilian, French, and Polish musicians who have developed into a hefty outfit shaking off their genesis and looking to the future. After releasing a debut EP, The Brian Jacket Letdown garnered much attention in the likes of supporting Misty’s Big Adventure, Scritti Politti, and Brian Jonestown Massacre. This year launched with an appearance on BBC2’s “The Culture Show,” and now continues with the band’s sophomore EP Eat Your Friends. “Eat Your Friends” begins with “Russian-style hoohah chanting” and buds into an oddly rhythmic blend of folk and indie rock. The vocals are quick, chaotic, and not meant to be understood. Such is the off-kilter style of The Brian Jacket Letdown. The B-side “Me and My Dog” sounds like an acoustic Ad Astra Per Aspera or, as they put it, “Led Zeppelin doing a cover of Japanese Kabuki theatre music.” Their guitar ability is uncanny, emulating a stumbling, rickety feeling while staying brilliantly rhythmic and fast-paced. The guitar solos on “Me and My Dog” are worth picking up Eat Your Friends alone, if not for exposure to a new take on old styles. Look for more to come from The Brian Jacket Letdown.

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