Brave Hands

"After two home-dubbed demo tapes, an “official” cassette, and a lost 7-inch, Brave Hands have finally arrived, and the arrival is monumental. To End All Worth, the band’s debut album, is the culmination of years of basement-forged craftsmanship, when few were listening but the rats in the walls. The hard work the band put in hammering out these songs has manifested in a record that is beautiful and lasting, as sure of itself in its instrumentals as it is neurotically self-critical in its lyrics. This is a style of melodic punk rarely played anymore—raw, imperfect, threadbare, dizzying, sincere—passed over in favor of the fest-ready, social-media savvy, astroturfed pseudo-grunge that passes for “indie punk” these days. The entire album showcases a lyrical depth that rewards returning listeners with layers that unfold and bloom. “Fill that void with anything/tell me where to go” singer and guitarist Mambo Lennon begs on the album kickoff “Liam”, a frenetic anxiety bomb that perfectly sets the tone and tempo of what’s to come. The band rarely slows down over the following ten songs, but even when they do, the occasional flutters of piano are sparse enough to feel organic and intentional, not heavy-handed passages veering into melodrama. The politics on To End All Worth are deeply rooted in interconnected, intersectional experiences, and grapple with the personal pain of gender issues, race, class, and family— but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t paying attention. This album is dark, desperate, evocative, reflective punk, in the tradition of THE GIBBONS and LEATHERFACE— with poetic lyrics whose content is more in line with the latter than with the cargo-short-and-trucker-hat bands whose vapid songs are often compared to the latter. Dynamic drumming by Max Ono matched with musical bass runs and gorgeously interwoven vocal patterns by Caitlin Bechtel lend texture and scope to the twangy open chords which are the moody dark center of To End All Worth. In an age when “the next big thing” is born and then discarded with a careless flick of the thumb, Brave Hands have quietly delivered an album worthy of being remembered decades from now." - Sadie Smith (G.L.O.S.S., Dyke Drama, Peeple Watchin', etc)

Portland, OR