Brighton band Brakes’ (or BrakesBrakesBrakes in the US) debut album Give Blood gets off to a very fine start. The four beginning tracks I’ve come to like so much that I’ve added ’em to my personal playlist for continuous repeats. I’ve written about two of them already. ‘NY Pie’ is the second track on there. After a short shock of some good indie rock on opener ‘Ring a Ding Ding’, ‘NY’ takes a bit of a turn. Not in the unsettling kind of way, more the pleasantly surprised type. That country-tinged opening riff certainly brightens things up just a bit more.

That is until you follow the story that goes on in the lyrics. Not to say that they really bring that good feeling down, but they do tell a definitely relatable tale of those situations where things that are meant to be going so well take a 180 degree turn. Here, our narrator’s fallen in love with a lady, or is in the least infatuated with her under the bright lights of New York City. He invites her out for a night, but then proceeds to get a bit too drunk and falls down the stairs of a bar. He wakes up some time later, policemen are all in his case. He gets out of that ordeal. And if the final verse is anything to go by, it’s clear that the lady from earlier wasn’t impressed by what she saw and got out of there before things could get worse. It’s a bit comical, but would probably hit home a bit too hard for some. But with the bouncy rhythm, sprightly guitars and sweet melody, it’s very easy for the message to just fly over.

Personal note on my end, I really dig Eamon Hamilton’s vocal style. It certainly makes Brakes songs stand out from other bands that were making the same kind of music back in the 2000s. That and their knack of making some powerful melodic songs that were only ever about two minutes in length. Hamilton’s vocals stick out here too. He’s possesses a Western twang in his delivery, and not like Wild Wild West of the US, more like the Somerset/Cornwall west of the UK. Only makes sense ’cause that’s where he was raised. But with that and its gravelly tone which is prone to breaking here and there and reaching some strange pitches, it’s always the go-to audible element to go to when hearing a Brakes song.