Perhaps I expect too much. Don't ask me why, but I expected that The Strange Boys might be, well, strange. The press release promises an album that's 'both timeless and refreshingly avant garde.' Sadly, it's neither.
Steeped in blues-inflected rock 'n' roll and 60s pop, the twelve tracks all skip along nicely enough, and are concise in their formulation, all clocking in between the two and three minute marks. These vintage pop principles also apply to the sound - jangling guitars and a Hammond organ spiralling through the melodies with occasional blasts of harmonica - and production values. 'Be Brave' has a very 'authentic' and 'analogue' feel to it.
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This doesn't necessarily mean that it's any good, though, and while 'Be Brave' certainly does have its moments - the title track sits in the 'classic garage' category - and is clearly a record made for the love of the music, Ryan Sambol's slightly cracked Dylanesque twang grates a bit after a while. Besides, I can't really see the point of listening to a contemporary facsimile of a host of 60s r'n'b bands when the recordings from the era remain the originals and the best.
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