This new five-song release reveals Brothers to have fully grasped the rhythmic dream-pop the band’s earlier recordings only hinted at. It’s a throat-grabber from the start, with opening track “In Fog” and its heady bass line that pairs seamlessly with the old school, Love Tractor-style guitar interplay.
Indeed, the first three tacks are remarkably strong, with strummy guitar work bordering on shoegaze. But the fourth song, “Feel,” never makes a convincing case for itself. In fact, its relative slowness and underwater-glurg-glurg sound renders it pretty unenjoyable. The EP ends with the sparse majesty of “New Walls,” which uses the guitar the way other bands might use a pedal steel. It bends and soars in all the right places, while the rest of the band creates a deliberately urgent background.
Street Names is a lyrically strong record. From “Light”: “For as long as I’m around you won’t know/ How far alone I will run tonight…/ With that line of sight you’ll need a light to hold/ When the street feels cold and they all fold/ I won’t.” It sums up as best as possible Brothers’ strength-through-vulnerability aesthetic in a way I’m not sure the band is even aware. 3 out of 5.
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