BRSR a product of their environment

Walking into Castle Hotel in Manchester is like going back in time. On the surface, it’s an old Victorian pub serving ales to locals who might be as old themselves but like many other legendary grassroots venues in the city, it has a door that could easily be mistaken for a staff room. Inside, some of the best bands in the country play. There’s no disco balls or fancy stage lighting here, just a dusty chandelier and an industrial sized air con unit.

BRSR are a product of their environment. Glasgow is fast becoming the UK capital of huge guitar riffs and piercing screams and BRSR are more than happy to show us why. David Roberts (vocals), Chloé Johnston (backing vocals, keys), Matt Aitchison (lead guitar), Kieran Gallacher (bass) and Drew Young (drums) are good news for fans of driving Deftones riffs and swirling Slowdive melodies. The professionalism and musicianship displayed by the band was second to none that night, creating the polished and powerful sound of a band that’s clearly about to be too big to play these venues soon. The band displayed some of their heavy influences in other tracks too, with spoken word sections over complex guitar parts invoking sounds of TOOL, syncopated bouncy rhythms reminiscent of Foals and vocal lines so full of anguish and desperation that would make Alice In Chains proud. It's clear that BRSR were brought up listening to these bands and have applied their own hardships to this magical rock formula beautifully and authentically.

Lyrically, BRSR encapsulates the day to day experiences of almost every twentysomething in Castle Hotel that night. “Portals” is a perfect example of this, and BRSR’s party piece - exploring themes of depression, isolation and poverty and delivering them on shimmering, almost hopeful waves of lush chords and hammering drum beats. It’s sometimes difficult to know whether to dance or cry. In my own time, I had a listen to some of BRSR’s older tracks, specifically “BLUE AND GREEN”. Combating mental health struggles with prescribed medication and wondering if therapy even works are issues best discussed alongside haunting, chorus soaked melodies broken up by huge walls of sound, and these guys are all too happy to accommodate. Tapping into the uncertainties and anxieties of lost 90s kids and saying “We know, we’ve been there too” and wrapping them up in distortion and screams is what makes BRSR so appealing to fans of this genre.

The massive dynamic shifts, brutally honest introspection, unbelievably tight playing and face-melting choruses are just some of the reasons why seeing BRSR should be on your to do list. It won’t be long before tickets for this band become a lot harder to get your hands on.

BRSR headline Nice N Sleazy in their hometown of Glasgow on the 6th October and Bannerman's in Edinburgh on the 8th. Seeing BRSR on their home turf is guaranteed to be an unbelievable show and I hope another Manchester performance is on the books.

Keep your eye out for our interview with BRSR in the coming week!