Hey, I think the boys do not sound like THE SMITHS by accident, right?
Promising debut produced by Fraser Smith (Ian Brown)
“You’ve never been so shook up since you saw The Smiths in 1984,” David Burgess sings on A Trivial Pursuit’s ebullient opener and first single Footsteps. This Essex four-piece – line-up completed by guitarist James Prudence, bassist Mark Newton and drummer Matt Humphries – have obviously studied Johnny Marr’s guitar work and songcraft well; and the band aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves.
Theirs is a magical sound that meshes a little bit of Aztec Camera’s jingle-jangle with some of Orange Juice’s wit and wisdom, and a lot of The Housemartins’ soulful pop. Indeed, second single A Cameo Can’t Last Forever wouldn’t sound out of place on the latter’s 1987 album, The People Who Grinned Themselves To Death, it’s so wonderfully infectious and bubblegum-poppy.
The Brights sing honestly and poignantly on Barricade Of Love and Pride Step Aside and, while they aren’t the only ones drawing on the 80s indie pool (see the Edwyn Collins-produced Frankie And The Heartstrings for one), The Brights have a rare knack for melody and are truly something special indeed."
From Music News:
"Five minutes after slamming the door after another bloody day at work The Brights had me bouncing around the room like a mad thing on happy tabs.
They are simply gorgeous to listen to and their jangly and upbeat bonhomie is guaranteed to drag you up out of the worst of moods (I think unhappiness is a four letter word in Brights world).
They have touches of so many of those eighties pop bands – echoes of The Housemartins, Style Council and Haircut 100 not to mention Squeeze but those bands were making music at a time when people thought powder blue had depth, Princess Di was the epitome of cool and a beret was a rakish accessory – and everyone was doing it.
The Brights are playing their brand of feel good pop in a world where the world currencies are collapsed , where the government is ripping huge swathes of money out of the state and where the world is in imminent danger of a natural catastrophe not to mention war and famine – in fact in a world that desperately needs bright and breezy and maybe the Brights can turn the world back to the light and away from the darkness – all I know is that they bring a huge smile to my face and lift in my heart and that can’t be any bad thing.
Standouts on the album are probably ‘A Cameo Can’t Last Forever’ with a rhythm like the Style Council and a superb bassline courtesy of Mark Newton, the achingly lovely ‘Barricade Of Love’ – slow and bittersweet, really showing off David Burgess’ vocal skills – and ‘Pride Step Aside’, a superb broken love affair gem.
They aren’t just about jangly bounce and poppy lightness, they actually have written a number of excellent three minute pop songs and if it wasn’t for the preponderance of so-called ‘R&B’ they would be a massive draw for Radio 1 as well as 6.
Make sure you get a listen – they should be THE band of the summer."
