A Swan Song for the Younger Years
Brightwood’s full-length album misses the mark
Brightwood
Wake
Released on Aug 05, 2008
Brightwood have risen through the ranks in a short amount of time. The Oregon band’s debut EP The Love Antidote came out in 2006 and garnered a spot on the Warped Tour of that year as well as one of the top 100 unsigned bands on MySpace. The second time around Brightwood decided to release their full-length album independently and recorded Wake in their personal studio.
Wake is what you expect to come from a band that’s been on Warped Tour. Not to bash Warped Tour by any means, but most bands on there are what we affectionately call “guilty pleasures.” There’s a part of them that can be enjoyable, but overall the underdeveloped musicianship and the rampant hormonal teenage fans ruin it. Wake is an album I would’ve loved in late middle school/early high school when Thursday and Further Seems Forever penetrated my ears, but those days are gone. It feels like Brightwood’s sound is just a bit too late on the pop rock wave to really catch on. The album itself is marginally entertaining as background music but as far as an extensive listen goes Wake doesn’t offer much. The track “Sound the Alarm” sounds like an amalgamation of songs that we enjoyed when Chris Carrabba was emo-king. The screeching guitars, building up to that raw and emotional bridge where the lead guitarist tremolos on one string before the singer breaks into an intense chorus. Wake follows the pop rock formula including the angst-ridden track (“Vis Major”), the track for the ladies (“Dreamer to a Dream”), and even the intense, love stinks track (“Eyes Betray”).
Despite the lack of freshness Brightwood offers, the band and music itself it quite polished for what it is. For someone who is just discovering their musical taste, Brightwood is a good example of how to sound. Their album is very well mixed and, from a technical aspect, sounds totally fine. Their simple but catchy lyrics are also perfect to grab you long enough to lead you into the next song, and lead singer Andrew Brittell’s voice is pretty solid throughout Wake. Teenagers, or this supposed “tween” age group, would most likely enjoy Brightwood. They kind of fall into the category that bands like Boys Like Girls are trying to bring back, but Brightwood lacks the douche-bag appeal the others have. If a kid has to be into a pop rock band, Brightwood should be it. But for the refined music listener, or even the listener who’s attempting to be refined, Wake misses the mark.
High Point
Wake’s a good album to kick back to with your high school friends and relive those days of your youth.
Low Point
Pop rock died with alternative chains and big-laced DC shoes. Brightwood just missed the Viking funeral.
Posted by Amy Dittmeier on Dec 30, 2008 @ 9:00 am