Brute Heart – Brass Beads LP (self-released)
Superb first outing from this Minneapolis trio, all ladies, playing within the confines of bass, viola both plucked and bowed, and drums, with what sounds like a little bit of organ in there now and again. Like White Magic and Grass Widow, the only modern groups in the punk/DIY circuit with whom Brute Heart has much in common, their music benefits from determination and practice, and the band doesn’t take their voice for granted. However, Brute Heart pushes further into quiet instrumental minimalism/abstraction, not just as an expression of artifice, but of worldview. These people have found a sound and learned to communicate to one another with it, something that far too many bands operating in indie/postpunk circles have bothered to understand. In another classy move, the production techniques used to represent the band (clean, dubbed, delayed, hyper- attenuated) add to their sound, but stop short of defining it. The form is distinctly loft-American, with shots of the kind of experiments that Davids Cunningham and Toop were performing in the UK throughout the ‘70s and ‘80s. All three members sing, in techniques cribbed from the Billotte sisters, harmonizing in triplicate, and essentially distilling their combined voices into an instrument of its own, howling and cooing through lyrics that focus on personal politics and the forces that drive humanity to exist. The nods to nature, objects, and witchcraft in their words and imagery align with folk music, but drummer Crystal Brinkman is having none of it, pushing the band into steady, almost danceable pop rhythms. There are so many records that do exactly what you’d expect of them, and far fewer challengers who wish to extend forms which require practice and study, rather than merely decoupage a bunch of signifiers into something emblematic of the times. “Talebearer” is a prime example of this sort of thought put into action: hustling, brushed drums, melodies both deep and trance-laden, nervous energy exploding from all sides but skillfully contained. The members of Brute Heart have worked hard and come up with a sound that, while staying at the very edge of pop/rock based forms, proudly sets up camp in a space that’s all their own. (http://www.myspace.com/bruteheart)
(Doug Mosurock)
