Brandtson – Death & Taxes EP

Brandtson – Death & Taxes EP / Deep Elm Records / 2003 / 6 Tracks / http://www.deepelmrecords.com / http://www.brandtson.com

Very approachable music from this Deep Elm act that really breaks the mold that is characteristic of the musical style of most of the Deep Elm acts. This band is incredibly clean and polished sounding, while having tight songs that will immediately throw themselves into a listeners’ head. By no means a band that is new into the scene (having recorded material since 1998 for Deep Elm), this EP really shows a band that is mature in their sound and one that is sure on where they wish to go. By all means, the track that really makes Death & Taxes a CD worth buying more so than the rest of the tracks would be “In A Word”, with its’ chorus of “You’re Wonderful, You’re Wonderful, And I’m Nothing At All”. This track seems best suited for an ending episode of a long-running television show, to be heard continually on music videos, and ingrained into a larger mass of people than it has currently reached. The strummy guitars and late-1990s contemplative style of the track mesh well with the resounding drums to make something that is truly better than the sum of its parts. While each tracks feels as if it is united by a common thread, and the band has coalesced to such a tight-knot entity, there is no place on this disc that feels stagnant or otherwise dull; the spirit of experimentation is still alive in this act. See them while you can with Copeland, and if not, make sure you pick up their CD from any reputable record store.

Rating : 8.0/10



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