Our Brother The Native – Make Amends For We Are Merely Vessels

It’s not every day that you’re stopped dead in your tracks by an album or band, but Our Brother The Native are starting to make a habit of it. Their debut album – Tooth And Claw – confounded all expectation and polarized opinion. Like Animal Collective, OBTN possess a unique talent and ability – to excite and infuriate in equal measure. But it’s important to remember that these guys were merely kids when they released their debut. In fact, two of them hadn’t even met! The album was conceived and created via music files swapped back and forth over the internet. Kids ‘eh? And like those teenagers in Larry Clark’s movie Kids, OBTN spit in the face of all that is conventional, disrespect the rules, and hold scant regard for their elders or peers. With a stubborn cockiness and swagger, they administer a brutal lesson in originality for all to hear. That is, if they even care whether or not we’re listening. Their songs are still devoid of structure – sweeping wildly between quiet, chaotic, delicate, and abrasive. But like all teenagers, they grow up, mellow, and mature. Make Amends…is the sound of a band endeavouring to harness the raw talent and originality so evident since day one in a more cohesive manner. The multitude of instruments utilised has been curbed – in favour of a more balanced and consistent sound. It is only the vocals that remain somewhat inaccessible, due to the anarchistic delivery and unconventional melodies. Although the songs vary wildly in style, mood, and length, OBTN now share more in common with bands from the post-rock era such as Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and most notably Sigur Ros, rather than Animal Collective and Coco Rosie. While they still display a raw, dare I say it, teenage angst, there is also a majestic beauty and emotional profundity prevalent throughout MAFWAMV, making it one of the first truly original, great albums of 2008. Mere mortals they ain’t!

See also: Sigur Ros – Agaetis Byrjun (Fatcat Records), Animal Collective – Sung Tongs (Fatcat Records), Mogwai – Come on Die Young (Chemikal Underground).

Release date – February 15th