Remember when Brakes first materialised? Most people smiled, but shook their heads dismissively. 'Those wags, with their 30 second pop songs' one girl said. 'They're a part-time band, they'll never last' another sage hipster counselled. 'Novelty act!' some random haircut even denounced. Yet, here we are, four years on, second album out, and all four members fully committed to their cause. In fact, is it even appropriate to call the Brighton band a 'supergroup' anymore? Since singer Eamon Hamilton quit British Sea Power for good to concentrate on Brakes full-time last year, the band have gone from strength to strength; Give Blood was an explosive collection of versatile pop-rock tunes that rarely exceeded two minutes, yet packed more fun into those two minutes than most bands usually do over the course of an entire album. Can we expect more of them same from The Beatific Visions, then? Well, yes and no: Hamilton and his Electric Soft Parade (Tom and Alex White) and Tenderfoot (Marc Beatty) associates recorded their sophomore effort in Nashville, and it shows. Not only are most tracks more spit 'n' sawdust-country than the dulcet twang occasionally interwoven through Give Blood, but Beatific Visions's overall sound is both more mature and more complete than its predecessor. Sure, there are still the whimsical, throwaway tracks (the brilliant Porcupine or Pineapple, which is as amusingly inane as it sounds) and intermittent cheesiness (sprightly hoe-down Spring Chicken); but for each eccentric ditty, there's a heartfelt, Nashville-imbued croon (If I Should Die Tonight, Mobile Communication).Hamilton's lyrics are as sharp and witty as ever, and he proves that he can write classic summery pop songs too: the title track is a gorgeous Ben Folds-style tune, doused in sun-rays and Beach Boys-esque harmonies 'Here she comes, with summer in her heels / You can meet her at the station to escape for a day'. When all is said and done, The Beatific Visions still only clocks in at 28 minutes; but when the quality is as good as this, they'll be amongst the 28 best you'll ever spend. Highly recommended.
