BRNDA
BRNDA is a four-piece from DC with a few rules: No covers, No love songs. Simple enough, right? Think again. After perusing through the late 70s, 80s, and 2010s for musical detritus, it was discovered that only the least ostentatious, most off-kilter sound is fit for BRNDA. And so, if you find yourself unable to put your finger on just what you’re hearing, it is because BRNDA is not just some rehashed comfort listening.
Since their genesis in 2012, BRNDA has released 2 albums (2014, 2015) and an EP (2018). The year is 2021, and we are happy to report that BRNDA is back. Sodium intake, however, is on the rise for the group. Snacking in the shadows of 2020, BRNDA finished LP3, Do You Like Salt? So what?
One could say that the stream of consciousness featured in Do You Like Salt? is arguably BRNDA’s richest yet. Topics of interest include salt, tennis, existentialism, poached avocado, your 45-year plan, tea, incorrect orders... all which are expressed through a carousel of honest vocal performance (singing, shouting, speaking, radio static) from all members of the band. Above all, BRNDA pulls off an unpredictable and incredibly entertaining sound that can shift between testy art punk, noisy no wave, and groovin’ indie rock at any given moment. Not to mention, there is also a tasteful dusting of saxophone on the record. What is there not to like about all of that in a 10-track, sub-thirty-minute package?
Do You Like Salt? drops August 20 via Crafted Sounds.
Notable Press
“BRNDA have made it very clear they plan on serving up whatever they want.” - Bandcamp Daily
“BRNDA is one of those bands with a sound so tight, it actually makes your brain go loose, and if you happened to be listening to their terrific new album, “Do You Like Salt?,” on a recent Thursday night while driving to the band’s house in Northwest D.C. to ask them about it, the news ticker at the bottom of your brain may have started flapping around like a ribbon in the wind, because in addition to that paradoxical tight-loose, nervous-relaxed thing, this music also feels spiky-smooth, and is there anything like that in physical reality?” - The Washington Post
“As a dancey drum groove lays the framework for fuzzed-out basses and simplistic, hypnotizing guitar parts, subdued vocals shift between lackadaisical droning and soaring melodicism. Saxophones dart in and out of the background as BRNDA manage to marry quirk and danceability. While “Perfect World” would tear down the walls at a sweaty DIY show, it also wouldn’t sound out of place if dropped in a sophisticated DJ set.” - FLOOD Magazine
“I do like salt very much, thank you. I am a salty boy and this is a salty slab of dancey post-punk that requires serious hydration. BRNDA's been on the D.C. scene a minute — really impressive onstage, but hadn't quite translated to record. Do You Like Salt? captures BRNDA's rubber-band energy with equal parts silliness and dexterity. Everybody sings, shouts, yelps and talk-sings — often overlapping each other — over scratchy riffs, wobbly bass and taut drumming that snaps just at the release.” - Viking’s Choice (Lars Gotrich from NPR)
“Gives me Velvet Underground vibes.. great stuff” - Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, The Full Monty, Ravenous, The World Is Not Enough)
“... it’s an album that finds its own groove, sputtering and darting around impeccably tight rhythms and an irreverent sense of humor, drawing comparisons to bands past (PYLON) and present (Fake Fruit).” - Post-Trash
“... it’s apparent that BRNDA are not indie traditionalists but are instead flexing and bending the style’s boundaries in a myriad of directions that at once calls into question what an indie record is supposed to sound like as well as celebrates the malleability that stands as one of the style’s core tenants.” - Alt Citizen
“There is a strong dose of Pavement’s guitar nonchalance mixed with Pylon’s dedication to the party as the band plays like they have ear-to-ear smiles on their faces throughout. You can hear the manic glee in Lesser’s voice as he yelps “I LIKE SALT” as he lists off snack-based non-sequiturs on the standout “Year of The Hot Dog By Burger Gang.” - Ears to Feed
BRNDA - Do You Like Salt?
August 20, 2021CS036
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