In Remembrance: The Blood Brothers
The Blood Brothers may not have been short-lived, but I’ll be damned if I don’t want them back.
Unlike the bands I usually feature on here that were only around a few years and put out an album or two; The Blood Brothers were around for 10 years and put out an impressive five albums. However, they do fit into this category of bands that broke up too early. It seems like most bands that break up after a lengthy career do so after their career has already peaked. What I mean is that the last album or two they put out before their breakup ends up being a disappointment when compared to their previous work. This is where the Blood Brothers stray from the pack. The Blood Brothers were only getting better at the time of their breakup, which makes me wish they never broke up at all.
Now, although they’re gone, during their time they spawned numerous side-projects, most of which are still around today. Yeah that’s neat and all, but does anyone out there really appreciate the side projects as much as the real thing… no, probably not. Let me go 1990’s on you just for a second. Humor me, if you will, by pretending that each side-project is a Power Ranger’s individual zord (Yes, I know how ridiculous this is). Now did the individual zords ever win a fight? Hell no. Every damn episode they would fight individually, lose, and then combine into the badass huge zord. And that’s exactly how I feel about the individual Blood Brothers. Just combine again already, we all know that’s the only way to win.
Characterized by their dueling vocals and chaotic disposition, The Blood Brothers were sonically different from any other band out there. Their music ranged from post-hardcore to electronic and often integrated several different styles of music into a single song or varied them throughout an album. The dueling vocals add intensity and variety to the cryptic storytelling the band used as lyrics. What particularly stands out to many people (myself) about this band is Johnny Whitney’s vocal style. While Jordan Billie utilizes your run-of-the-mill post-hardcore vocals, Whitney’s trademark falsetto vocals were the real showstopper (think prepubescent talking cat getting its tail stepped on – you know, awesome).
The Blood Brothers formed in Seattle in 1997 by vocalists Johnny Whitney and Jordan Billie as well as drummer Mark Gajadhar. Later that year Bassist Morgan Henderson and guitarist Cody Votolato joined the mix after graduating high school. The group started touring immediately and recorded several demos that would eventually make their way onto the Rumors Laid Waste EP.
2000 saw the release of the band’s first full-length album, This Adultery Is Ripe. The whole album was recorded over a weekend with the help of Matt Bayles (The Fall of Troy, Minus The Bear and Mastadon). While the album received fair review from most critics, it was clustered and lacked the strong transitions and complexities contained in their later work.
Two years later the band released their second studio LP, a concept album named, March On Electric Children. Also produced by Matt Bayles, the album followed the protagonist, Mr. Electric Ocean and The Skin Army through a world of apathy and loss of all meaning. With an increased focus on sexuality and imagery, March On Electric Children, scored well among critics.
…Burn, Piano Island, Burn, marked the band’s third album. Released in 2003 and produced by Ross Robinson (The Cure, Glassjaw), the album received several prefect reviews and is still considered by some (not myself) to be their greatest work. Following this album with much anticipation came Crimes. Crimes was released on V2 and featured John Goodmanson as producer (Blonde Redhead, Death Cab For Cutie, Hot Hot Heat and Aiden).
In 2006 The Blood Brothers released the EP, Love Rhymes With Hideous Car Wreck, as well as their fifth and final album, Young Machetes. Young Machetes is arguably the most experimental recording the band ever released. The album featured much more pop influence and electronic instrumentation than any previous recordings. The Blood Brothers announced that they would be breaking up in late 2007, although they had stopped touring and creating music under the name several months before any announcement was made. In their press released they cited that they had enjoyed a nice long run and were looking forward to exploring other ventures.
Neon Blonde was a side project consisting of Whitney and Gajadhar in as early as 2004. Their music expanded on the sound of The Blood Brothers by incorporating more of an art-punk/dance-punk style of music. In 2007, Whitney, along with Votolato formed a group called Jaguar Love. Jaguar Love features a more indie/pop sound than anything similar to The Blood Brothers. In 2008 they released their first album, Take Me To The Sea, which received generally positive reviews. Additionally Votolato and Billie formed a side project named Head Wound City shortly after Crimes was released. Henderson, Gajadhar and Billie also formed a band in late 2007 named Past Lives. Currently Henderson and Gajadhar are both working solo on their own remix projects.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Sep 21, 2009 @ 9:00 am