On their fourth album, Zagreb duo Brio has returned to its roots, giving us their bloody poetry, that apart from having arrogant misanthropic stand, hides in itself a big heart. Even if that heart is warmed by steel of light weapons.
In their most eruptive release till so far, Brio is kicking through the ashes of sound from groups like Collosamite, DNA, and Lightning Bolt, and in moments of reflection they meditate with Dennison/Kimball Trio. Summary of this 15-years old duo-odyssey is “Acid Cock”, baked in two weeks of recording and mixing, and released on the Italian label Long Song Records. Thus, except from the distribution of America, Brio has found themselves in the catalog ruled by Marc Ribot , Elliott Sharp, and Peter Evans.
Although the band says that we should not pull the sleeve of some unfortunate associations, this music is hard to keep under control. The first title is filled with desperate beat poetry strengthened with a strong dose of elegy that evokes an apocalyptic vision hidden below the whole album. Association on the rolling avalanche, or a series of wild rivers that are overflowing peoples’ basins while carrying in their current the entire construction of bridges, is imposed by itself here- in the second title whose atonality is as soft as one of Bela Bartok’s, and the association on above mentioned post no-wave bands is clearly not redundant. However, the reins of chaos are firmly clamped in the very next track which clearly transforms the record into genre wise multilayered collage. If one is not sure what this band members are wearing below their waist, the next title clearly explains: “You Will Find Me Under the Rainbow, Pissing with a Hard On.” Here, and with no problems at all, the band steps hard into the groove of Chicago urban blues, their sound strengthened by Hammond organ and the ARP 2600, thus finally revealing to everyone and to themselves as well, that the right freedom is hiding itself in a kaleidoscope of musical styles – the statement that’s obvious fact if one takes Brio past and current discography into account. With Acid Cock, Brio has made a step towards far more generic sound than ever, cutting the record that will result in a far greater number of listeners, which certainly is a surprise to those who previously considered this band too wacky and/or weird. And not that it has no empty breakthroughs, but here the sound- image finally got the dramatics.
Let us recall, the band’s first two albums with their developing spatial depth have gained solid critics’ attention, and are mapped on All Music Guide; not only as one of the very few bands formed by the closest blood relatives-brothers , but also because of their acoustic sound that was clearly defined by European free-music provenance; although, let’s be calm, it was more from the surprise side. The third album, showed that the combination of an electric Les Paul guitar and vintage Slingerland drums was enough to throw the music in the speed that does not care about collateral damage, where with brutal force the band ejected dynamics of music from their rails, just like some cocked up ballerina on the icy Swan Lake. Here, Vulgar kind of Steve Albini irony hides itself behind the titles like “It Must Be Painful When it Slides In”, just like sarcasm of “Sing this to me when I’m Lonely”, while fresh wounds that are exposed and ready to be licked… seems to lurk for someone else’s pair of tongues.
Rating: 8/10