Singles

Brigada Mercy - Recovering Catholic / Roto Chico

Page 14/07/2009

Rating: 1/5

Punk is a term applied to much more music than is ever correct, just take a look at Good Charlotte, a band as punk as my Daily Mail reading Nan. Brigada Mercy are another band labelled punk more on a supposed attitude and spirit than on their musical style, the Yorkshire three piece count Tom Robinson as a fan and release double A side single Recovering Catholic/Roto Chico hoping to attract more fans.

I've got to be honest if Tom Robinson liked this enough to play list it then I worry about him, Recovering Catholic sounds like Green Day trying to be the Pogues and is about as much fun as that sounds. Maybe somewhere there's someone who'll find this fun but I hope they are few and far between, I honestly can't find anything to recommend this single at all. The other side Roto Chico fares a little better, but then again a poke in the eye is better than a kick in the groin, so it's all relative. It has a minor Coral feel to it but like Recovering Catholic, is totally forgettable and ruined by lead singer Don Wilson's awful Billie Joe Armstrong impression.

The press release makes a lot of the fact that Brigada Mercy are from Yorkshire and proud of it, hailing from the heart of the former Yorkshire coal mining area. This must be the strong political edge that drives Brigada Mercy, but if they're so proud of their heritage and driven by the political injustices forced on the area over the decades, why do they hide their roots so massively? With the singers faux American Billie Joe impression it's impossible to tell where their from, if it wasn't for the press release I would never have guessed it was Yorkshire. And that I think you'll agree is just not very punk at all.

If the idea of American skate punk with bits of gypsy folk interests you then maybe Brigada Mercy are for you, but I've got to imagine there are US bands doing this better and in their own accents. Iggy Pop doing car insurance advertisements, John Lydon selling butter and music like this passing for punk, this has to be signs that punk if not dead is in very bad health, thank god Billy Childish is out there making proper punk music with a proper punk spirit.