Brooklyn is a rock band from the French capital of Paris. ‘Clandestine’ is the bands début album and one which has been released through the record label Ctrl Alt Del Records. The album consists of twelve tracks and this therefore provides for 48 minutes of music; it’s not a great album, but it’s not too bad a first release from the band anyway. The music is pleasant to listen to, there’s just a bit of a lack of excitement in the sound and the vocal performance is not here particularly passionate. Brooklyn is a band with a soulful rock sound, a very clean vocal tone is taken here and there’s a definite indie rock vibe about the music and an almost swing element at times also.
Title track ‘Clandestine’ kicks the album off here with a drumbeat that makes me think of the band The Subways. There’s a definite Subways style of sound present here, it works out well for the band and begins this album on an extremely positive note indeed. The track lacks energy; the vocals are well presented in the sound however and instrumentally also the music is very well played. There’s nothing technically wrong with the music of Brooklyn, it’s just that the band is not very adventurous and always the band here chooses to play it safe through not venturing too far with its sound and always sticking to more or less the same soulful rock script. The album is interesting to listen to, every track does sound very similar though and it’s therefore very difficult to listen to this album from start to finish in one sitting.
There’s quite a Placebo sound about the vocal performance of Brooklyn throughout this album, a definite Brian Molko tinge and the vocals always are strong here. Although there is not a great deal of passion in the vocal performance, the vocals are pleasantly put across and provide an extremely positive and uplifting vibe about the music of Brooklyn. The sound created here is not hugely exciting but it’s definitely upbeat and the sweetly sung music of Brooklyn always provides a smile.
It’s hard to pick out highlights when the tracks all sound so similar, of all the tracks present here though I’d have to say that ‘Lonely Days’ is the one I enjoy listening to the most. The guitar sound is light and uplifting here and the vocals also come across extremely well. There is more passion in the sound than ever here and this is something that works out really very well for Brooklyn. With ‘Lonely Days’ the Brooklyn sound is more exciting than ever, and although that’s not exactly something greatly difficult this is one track from this album that I really do enjoy listening to.
As far as début albums go then ‘Clandestine’ isn’t too bad an effort at all, it’s not the best but I’ve certainly heard a lot worse than this over the years. The indie rock guitar sound works well in the bands music here, the music is pleasant to listen to, and if you like the sound of the soulful rock of Brooklyn then you should most definitely give this album a listen. This will never become your favourite album, if you’re looking for a relaxing rock record to chill to however then Brooklyn’s ‘Clandestine’ should certainly do the trick.
Label: Ctrl Alt Del Records
Release Date: July 7th 2008
Rating:
UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.