This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

The Bravery: Sam Endicott (vocals, guitar, programming); Michael Zakarin (guitar, background vocals); John Conway (synthesizer, programming, background vocals); Mike Hindert (bass instrument, background vocals); Anthony Burulcich (drums, background vocals).

Recording information: Bushwick Studios, Brooklyn, NY.

There's a long history of American bands hitting it big in the UK before they become known at home, so the Brooklyn-bred, NME-feted Bravery is part of a hallowed tradition. While the Bravery is solidly in the mold of mid-2000s groups worshipping at the altar of the 1980s, they manage a canny syncretism on their self-titled debut album. While the Rapture, Out Hud, Interpol, and other NYC brethren may have picked up on specific aspects of the Cure, New Order, et al, the Bravery manages to craft an all-inclusive sound that incorporates the most infectious aspects of the aforementioned influences and more. Bleeping Depeche Mode synths, twanging New Order basslines, Robert Smith-inflected vocals, Duran Duran-tinged dance-rock beats, and effects-laden Echo & the Bunnymen-via-Smiths guitar riffs all vie for space here. The Bravery boys are clearly frothing with enthusiasm for the glorious era they're too young to really remember, and their passion for the sound of those halcyon days of eyeliner and synthesizers is bursting from the seams of this disc.

What the critics say...

Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The Bravery do a jockier version of the New Wave competition, pumping the drums in straight-ahead tunes..."
Uncut (p.115) - 5 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey make a gritty New Wave noise that is a suspiciously precise fusion of Duran Duran and The Strokes....This album really is just too good to be true."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]his is a swaggering, unashamedly fun pop record that should fast-track The Bravery to radio ubiquity."