Whether the music a band presents is groundbreaking or not, it's undoubtedly an awesome accomplishment when its members learn and develop much quicker than expected - as such is the case with Braintoy. Like most young artists just starting out, they saw it fit to hone their sound almost footprint-to-footprint with their influences. Braintoy's 2005 EP, Tremors, saw the crew standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the countless amounts of other peers that draw just a little too much inspiration from Tool. Tremors was a solid little effort, but with all those ideas so well traveled it certainly wasn't going to get the band noticed to any real degree. Moreover, these types of "leeches," for lack of a better term, usually just disappear before the term "flash in the pan" can even be considered.
At one point or another, the boys likely considered this in the back of their minds. So they grew and they matured; it's 2008, and they now unleash Vehicles upon the world. While apparent influences are still present, new concepts and far superior variety now take center stage. This is the type of LP that you just don't expect a band to write when gauging their performance on prior efforts. Unlike Braintoy's starting point, Vehicles isn't an album you'll give a few good listens before landing it at the back of your closet or the bargain bin. This one stays with you for quite awhile; it may even find a spot in the personal favorites stack.
Probably the most significant part of the band's growth comes with a new lead singer replacing and completely outperforming Brett Fitzgerald. While this is no disrespect to the prior kid, it's still got to be said that the horde of expressions that play out on Vehicles wouldn't have been possible without Tristan Green's greater vocal range. Able to balance on the edge of falsetto territory coupled with a knack for providing convincing guttural pseudo-growls, Green is key to making this album effectively standout amongst other groups that dare to teeter around with a concoction of progressive, modern, and art rock.
Mainstream countdown contenders such as "Theft Prevention," "The Projectionist," and "Arsonists and Architects" work quite efficiently to draw the ears of adolescents that blindly accept anything that payola shoves down their throats. Even better, more matured listeners can happily sing along without feeling completely embarrassed or the need to turn the radio down when friends or colleagues lurk near. These simpler tunes are liable to get Braintoy compared to the likes of Chevelle, 30 Seconds to Mars, 10 Years, and Finger Eleven (when they were good). The good news is Braintoy is better at it. They make all these artists look bad
really bad.
With that said, the juiciest meat of Vehicles still comes from the moments the quartet really pushes the creative envelope. The thick layers and moody atmospherics of "Interlude," "Surgery Sink," and "Sputnik II" are commendable efforts. "Said And Done" closes out the album nicely with rich instrumentals. Arguably, the album's title track performs the best. Combining rapid fire 90's styled riffs with a restrained version of The Mars Volta-primed percussion makes for quite a standout track.
Like most records of this fare, on the surface this album would appear to be awkwardly schizophrenic. Look no further than recent casualties of error such as The Butterfly Effect's IMAGO, or Onesidezero's self-titled semi-debacle. However, after a proper writing process, this full-length demonstrates a mastering of what many others simply can't. Stringing together complex, elitist-service arrangements between instantly accessible cock-rockers that scream for radio play, this album gets better and better with each new listen. As mentioned before, this just wasn't what one would expect. The real Braintoy has truly arrived.
