Records: Brad's Interiors

By Dan McGarry

"Brad." Worse bands have been called better things. On Interiors, Brad's second release, the band unleashes music that demands recognition as more than another rockstar side project. Interiors is more mellow than the standard fare produced by the other bands Brad's four members are or have been in, but don't confuse mellow with monotonous: gentler rock doesn't have to sound like Dave Matthews. Brad gets by without a harder edge on most of the album, but maintains its vigorous personality through a studied blend of complexity and innovation.

"Circle & Line" is a masterful seether that begins in disarray, but, guided initially by a particularly commanding bassline, finds its way to a perfect tonal accord. The guitar, present from the start, drops out at just the right moments, leaving piano and drums to dance dotingly around the song's vocal heart.

Though backing up bassist Jeremy Toback on "Circle & Line," Shawn Smith sings the majority of Brad's songs. Smith is comfortable in ranges much higher than many of his angst-ridden Seattle compatriots, and even has a fetish for falsetto. "Angst-ridden" and "falsetto" don't seem to belong in the same sentence, much less the same song, but somehow Smith brings them into un-blessed union.

Frightful falsetto aside, Brad can rock with the best of them. Guitarist Stone Gossard finally lets loose on "Lift," bending never-ending power-chord choruses around lyrics about a busload of kids going off to the mountains and skiing while drunk in the middle of the night. Smith's falsetto only mildly intrudes on--or does it complement?--the staccato verses that stagger from slope to lift and back again.

On "Secret Girl," Brad proves they can do all that big dumb rock stuff and then some: race-car rhythms, drum builds, "yeah yeah yeah," gyrating guitars, falling microphone stands, the works. But the song only fits in such a neat little box because it builds that box so expertly itself. Brad manages to endow its songs with a personality that's not afraid to challenge itself and its audience--in the case of "Secret Girl," the challenge is to make big dumb rock interesting yet again, or to be interested in big dumb rock
yet again.

Vagaries of nomenclature notwithstanding, Brad has the potential for enormous appeal that would correlate to their talent, and should not be missed this Sunday at Toad's.

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