by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
New York’s Brandy come from a strong line of blown out and noisy punks, with core members having previously played in Pampers and Running, each band earning a spot in the past decade’s most in the red pantheon. Following on from their debut LP, 2018’s Laugh Track (Monofonus Press), the trio are set to release their next album, The Gift of Repetition, on September 18th via their new home at Total Punk Records (ISS, Foster Care, CIVIC), an album that is loud, detached, and filled with moments of abrasive yet catchy hooks. It scratches all the punk itches from Devo-tinged post-punk to the scuzzy lo-fi of bands like LAMPS and the wiry humor of The Intelligence.
Having shared singles “(Wish You Was) Madball Baby” and “UFOs 2 Heaven,” they set the tone for this new record, a scattershot of anything goes punk that’s full of energy and harsh grooves of distorted boogie. “Christmas Colors” is the album’s latest single, a song that benefits from the band’s new inclusion of synths, propelling the alien landscape and krautrock beat as it unfolds into progressively uglier territory. Sounding like synth punk on a bad trip, the lyrics are barked over a constant hum of swirling synths and punchy rhythms, stomping along with a looseness that gets a kick in teeth every now and then, stumbling between agitated barks and repeated gang vocals.