The title track of the latest release from the Brakes launches forth at you with riffs that remind me of the Sex Pistols and then the full force hits in indie rock fashion. Then it stops, it isn’t even two minutes long. But then that is the Brakes all round, they are short, sweet, punchy and loud.

Having established the indie hit-and-run power of the Brakes they then add a track that completely contradicts all those rules; I blame Leila Moss. Jackson, a veritable marathon of a track at a more standard 3 minutes, features Ms Moss (of The Duke Spirit fame) adding her trademark sultry rock vocals to this heavily countrified track which is the highlight of the whole set for me.

We are back on more familiar Brakes territory with the brash and urgent Shut Us Down and then a country music reprise with If I Should Die Tonight. Put them all together and you have great set of slightly disparate, but none the less enjoyable, songs.

Label: Rough Trade
Website: www.brakesbrakesbrakes.com
Release date: 17th October 2005

Tracklist:

1. Ring A Ding Ding
2. Jackson (featuring Liela Moss)
3. Shut Us Down
4. If I Should Die Tonight