Bern and the brights

Bern and the brights

One night in New Jersey, between intermittent bouts of sleep Bernadette Malavarca made a note to herself, “Gonna start a band. It’ll be Bern & the Brights . . . should be sleeping.” The band she formed played their first gig in 2008 and now, in 2010 have played live over 200 times. I think even England’s favourite troubadour Frank Turner would take a moment from his relentless touring schedule to tilt his head in admiration of those numbers.

Sometimes as a new music promoter you get e-mails from bands that you feel have probably been sent to every address in the blogosphere i.e “hello outroversionmusic, you like snow patrol (which i don’t) so you might like…” so it was a pleasure to recieve a nice, personal e-mail from a representative of the band recently. And what was even more welcome is how good they are!

I was about to go away on vacation for two weeks so might have shyed away from getting back in that mindset at the last minute. However, I clicked on their myspace and was blown away by the endearing sound of the NJ quintet and so was everyone else I hurried around to play it to before I left.

It borders some distinct genres without ever settling for one, B&TB of course aren’t particularly lethargic and this attitude seems to cloak every aspect of their offerings. Defiantly country tinged, blues dripping in the instrumentation and atmosphere with soul-fueled vocals fusing together to create something truly special.

To pick a stand out track here would be to choose your favourite colour M&M, that is to say they’re all different in their own ways and are all equally satisfying but the best way to enjoy them is to get a load at a time and cram them in your face.. /candymetaphor

If I were to choose I would say the pure familiarity of the possibly autobiographical “It goes like that” takes some topping,  “… Just you wait, I’m on the verge of something great. I know i’ve said that many times before but still you don’t see my shit in a record store“.

Truth is though I could happily have picked out any one of the songs i’ve heard so far and I can’t wait to hear more. Bern and the Brights can count me in as a member of the light brigade.

MP3s:

Sleepless Aristotle

It goes like that

Bern & the Brights are:
Bernadette Malavarca- lead guitar/vocals/percussion
Catherine McGowan- acoustic guitar/vocals
Nicole Scorsone– violin
Shawn Fafara- bass
Jose Ulloa- drums