Brighton’s country-punk combo Brakes have just released their third album “Touchdown” on FatCat Records. It’s about falling in love against a background of conspiracy theories. Check out their playlist and the bonus interview below:

Interview:

Hello, What’s your new release “Touchdown” about?
It’s about 40 minutes long. Hah hah hah. Our new album is about falling in love against a background of conspiracy theories.

What’s goin’ on in Brakes’s world right now?
Right now we’re traveling from Zurich to Munich in a van, listening to an old 60s band called Gong. They are psychedelic excellence. It is sunny and we are happy. We played a good show last night, a small, sweaty show.

What are you currently listening to? What are your all-time Top 10 albums?
Yesterday was a long drive, so we listened to: The Voluntary Butler Scheme, The Minutemen, Gong, Lightening Hopkins, Sunn o))), Silver Sun Pickups, Teenage Fanclub, The Four Tops, Cheryl Crow, The Buzzcocks, Cabaret Voltaire, as well as traffic news. Right at the moment we are listening to an old 90s band called Silver Sun. All time top ten? That is very difficult. It would have to include Blood On The Tracks by Dylan and Some Kind Of Blue by John Coltrane. And maybe Ghostbusters Theme by Ray Parker Junior.

How is the scene in Brighton at the moment? Any good new bands to look for?
It has changed since we were starting out.
Just walking around the residential streets you realize that it is a very musical city- you can usually hear someone practicing drums or bass or making house music. There are some great bands- an indiepop band called Foxes, a weird psychedelic band called Restless List, a genius guitar band called Vile Imbeciles. There’s still a feeling that you can do whatever you think sounds good.

How and when did Brakes start?
We started in 2002, I (Eamon) was singing punk songs on an acoustic, and Tom, Alex and Marc said that the songs would sound better with a band. As soon as we got to a rehearsal space and started up, we knew it sounded good.

How would you define your sound?
Country-punk.

Influences?
The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies, Ween, Little Richard, King Khan and The Shrines.

You are releasing your new album in a difficult moment for the music industry: does it affect you? How do you see the future of this industry? Is it easier to be in a band now with the access to a cheaper and more effective technology?
It is a difficult time for everybody I think. People aren’t going out to concerts anymore, which is putting lots of promoters under, and as most people download their music, the labels are going under as well. Anyone going into music thinking they will make more than their rent and a bit of food every month are sadly deluded- to even make your rent is lucky enough. As for the future, I think it will be artistically bleak.The only music that will be promoted will be the huge acts that will be guaranteed to sell- Lady Ga Ga, The Pussycat Dolls, Miley Cyrus. There will be no “alternative” music released as it too big a gamble. Radio will become a bland background noise and small venues will shut down. The only music available on the internet will be idiot bands who will have had no guidance or been taught how to record themselves, and they will sound shit. Music made by artists will die, and only music made by accountants and robot machines will remain. The only ‘bands’ will be those people rich enough to pay for everything themselves, supported by their rich parents, and their music will be shit.

Digital or physical, is there a place for both?
I prefer vinyl, it is a beautiful thing. The shuffle function has destroyed the album, which is bad and good. It means bands can’t get away with filling their albums with terrible tracks, and that every song should stand on its own as a great song, but it also means that concept albums are lost, and the track listing a band takes so much trouble about is also meaningless.

How important is the internet for you as a band? Is it something you are into or you don’t give a fuck?
It is good to keep in contact with everyone who likes our music. But it is annoying when online journalists who can’t write for shit upload their press copies of our album for everyone to download for free, a month before it is released. There is nothing we can do about it- there will always be shit journalists who think they are doing something clever by destroying a band’s success.

We are in a world with a lot of different models on the net (free streaming, digital stores, mobile, etc…): what kind of service should be brought to the table? As an artist, what would be the perfect online service?
I think they have found it with Spotify.com- they pay the artists, and the user gets every piece of music they could ever want.

Where do you see this whole internet thing going?
Well, like I said, it will make all music shit.

Visit Brakes Fairtilizer profile
Visit Brakes website
Visit Fat Cat Records website

Playlist:
01 Deerhoof “Believe E.S.P.” from Friend Opportunity (2007, Kill Rock Stars)
02 The Corvairs “True True Love” from True True Love / Hey, Sally Mae (1962, Comet)
03 The Springfields “The Johnson Boys” from Island Of Dreams(1962, Philips)
04 The Chap “Proper Rock” from Mega Breakfast(2008, Lo Recordings/Ghostly International)
05 Wire “The 15th” from 154 (1979, Harvest/Warner Bros)
06 Late Of The Pier “Bathroom Gurgle” from Fantasy Black Channel (2008, EMI)
07 Ween “My Own Bare Hands” from La Cucaracha (2007, Rounder Records)
08 Yo La Tengo “The Race Is On Again” from I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (2006, Matador)
09 Doom “Gazzillion Ear” from Born Like This (2009, Lex Records)
10 Jeffrey Lewis w/ Jack Lewis & Anders Griffen “Back When I Was 4 from It’s The Ones Who’ve Cracked That The Light Shines Through (2003, Rough Trade)