The Brokedowns, New Brains for Everyone

The Brokedowns play hardcore with touches of metal; their sound on New Brains for Everyone isn’t unusual, but their singer is — he’s a more subtle vocalist than most. Throughout the album, he sounds like he’s enjoying himself. Humor is always the most difficult emotion to convey with screamed hardcore vocals, but he pulls it off.

Even better, though, he’s got some great songs to sing. The lyrics are cynical and satirical, targeting politics and American culture in general, and the singer is clearly amused at how fucked-up everything he sings about is. And the band tries to keep us laughing along — the song “Brains” follows an excoriation of followers and conformists with a chorus that suggests “Issue out / New brains for everyone!” (If only it were that easy.) On “The S.A.R.S. Groove,” the quote from the Neil Young song “Ohio” over the hardcore beat makes for a great, amusing combination.

Behind all of this are catchy songs with melodies that don’t try too hard. “Brains” is a big anthem that really works, with unison vocals during the chorus that give the song a real boost. “Huge” is probably the best melody here — it even has a bridge! And when the bridge is over, they add a driving figure that makes the song build and build.

Someone needs to send a copy of New Brains for Everyone to Hillary Clinton; “Brains” would be the perfect theme song for her presidential campaign. After six years of George W. Bush, I think we could all use a new set of brains.