BRAZDA BROTHERS – Brazda Brothers
The Brazda Brothers were a folk/rock duo from Canada who released this self-titled album in 1972. The heavily accented vocals are the first thing that strike you, and they are not the strongest singers, but musically it is a pleasant folk/pop album. ‘Walking Into The Sun’ is perhaps not the best song to open with, as the quavery vocals jump out at you, and the song itself is quite lightweight. A much better track to start with would have been the next one ‘20th Century’, as not only is it better sung, but is at a livelier tempo, and also has electric guitar and organ backing. ‘Blooming Flowers’ is a gentle ballad, but ‘Share With Love’ can’t seem to make up its mind, with an upbeat verse and slower chorus, although it is helped along by some nice wah wah guitar-work. ‘Calm River’ is a good up-tempo folk-rocker, and ‘Gemini’ has some great fuzz guitar which should have made more of an appearance than it did. ‘Nature’ and ‘Civilisation’ are a couple of down-beat rockers, and even though the fuzz-guitar does make another appearance in the latter, it is in a much more subdued capacity. ‘Soldier In A Battleground’ is almost a pop number, despite the more earnest lyrics, and the guitar break sounds like it could have come from a mid 60’s beat group. The album closes with ‘Your Kingdom’, a slow blues which sounds quite different to the rest of the material. This is not a bad album, but the diversity of the material does make for something of a disjointed listen, and to be honest the vocals need to be more confident to carry off the folkier songs. A nice example of 70’s Canadian folk/rock but nothing really outstanding.