Just In: The Band “Brad Sucks” Lies About Sucking
June 27th, 2008
Oh my holy crap, how did I NOT find this earlier! Boy, do I ever have a treat for all you out there who can respect finding a precious gem in the middle of a rock query!
There’s this band I came across of Jamendo called “Brad Sucks”–the only negative thing I have to say about the band and album is that they chose the WORST name ever. Why? Because what the band does is everything completely opposite of “suck”.
I love fun simple covers and with a name like “Brad Sucks” titled “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing” I took a gamble when I clicked–as I often do–and awaited something to hit me so violently noobish that I had no choice but to immediately click back or close my browser before my larynx spontaneously exploded in gag-rejection. So, I click on the first song and get hit with a crazy mix of techno-indie rock–What the Hell?!? The song is called “Making Me Nervous” and is thoroughly sticky on the mind.
It has been months since I stumbled on something that so completely energized my attention span that I could do nothing else but listen to the whole album. No lie, 40 minutes and 47 seconds of my life amazed and captivated.
Well, not entirely motionless. I had to find the lowdown on this band. He released this album in 2001 digitally and then compiled it, totally fan-funded, as a CD for self release in 2005. Oh, oh, did I mention that this band is only ONE guy? For everything? He’s from Ottawa Canada (which excites me because I may just have to drive 9 hours away to see him perform live now). His name is Brad and considering the amount of digging I had to do I just started thinking his last name was indeed “Sucks” which would have been both unfortunate and mildly amusing, but his actual last name is Turcotte. Brad Turcotte.
On his site he mentions that he’s about to release a second album which makes me wish it was already September!
On more than one occasion Brad’s vocals took me back to the mid and late 90s when I’d listen to Beck and doddle or write randomly (”Fixing My Brain”, “Borderline”, “I Think I Started a Trend”, “Work Out Fine”). I also got a mild flashback to a crazy set of albums from The Magnetic Fields‘ 69 Love Songs or certain Ween tracks (”Sick as a Dog”) with his simple acoustic rhythm and melody. There’s even one track that took me back to my trips with my uncle’s surfing clan with Lenny Kravitz (”Bad Attraction”) playing on the deck. He goes from laid back introspective stuff (”Overreacting”) to some heavier alternative rock (”Time to Take Out the Trash”) without losing a second of interest from a listener–trust me–or please prove me wrong…
… So I can tell you that you’re wrong and then ignore you. Because you’re wrong.
Finally can I tell you what excited me the most about this discovery? I had stumbled across a band on Jamendo while in Amsterdam this winter called “Tryad“; a collective of artists who collaborate together. There’s one song in particular off their “Listen” album called “Mesmerize”. I liked it so much I got inspired to try to capture its feelings by creating an emo-inspired video called “Hair Cut”. Don’t believe I’d cut my hair on a whim of inspiration in an attempt to explore an emotional state? Here’s the final video!
Well, guess who was the ORIGINAL writer of this song? My double holy crap: Brad Sucks!!! His acoustic version definitely comes across more depressive than frustrated. It ever made me take out my acoustic after having it bagged away for 4 years! I’m also so pumped about this find because Brad has a veritable pay-what-you-want system for his CD and mp3s (ok, CDs are $5 minimum, but come on! Did I already mention this guy is awesome?)… He’s also released the source files of his music for community re-mixing! How much more creative commons friendly do he have to be?! The entire digital album is designated: By Attribution - Non-Commercial - Share Alike for interested parties: That means download or buy a copy and pass it out to as many friends/family as you like legally!
I can’t even express how much I respect this guy. How often can I say, “Wow this whole album frigging rocks my clean socks off!” to a pro-released album nowadays? It’s rare as unicorn poop. (OK maybe not that rare: aka IMPOSSIBLE… since unicorns don’t exist and all… not of the horse variety anyways).
Now excuse me while I go buy his CD and put my cash down on a pre-order and wait pseudo-patiently for September 8th before I start overreacting…
Quick Links:
Brad Sucks Website
Jamendo: Brad Sucks
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