What they said.....
"The Brazen, A proggy indie five piece hailing from Yorkshire/ Birmingham areas, solid first impressions of them right from the start, they produced a brilliant instrumental piece and this was just sound check at the time, showcasing a tight performance from all members before their set even properly started. There wasn’t too much of a crowd at milo’s at the time, but that easily was made up for with the amount of energy from the band members, always interact with each other, or giving audience members reasons interact. While I was watching them, I feel like their music adds quite a fresh sound to the genre of indie rock their music thanks to the use of some rather tasteful guitar work. Clear influence from stone roses, queen, stereophonics, etc. Generally just producing some rather enjoyable music to be honest. Probably one of the best audience reaction to a band from the day because of how the venue the was situated, there is a street level window, so even a few passersby were able to join in"
"Wanting to catch a glimpse of every venue, we then move to Milo Bar for The Brazen. Walking in we find some sort of jam session occurring, which we assumed was the beginning of the set, until vocalist Ryan Hobbs ended the ruckus by announcing, “well, that’s soundcheck done!”. There are literally five people in the room watching, but they could easily be headlining Wembley with the amount of bravado oozing from every member. Their sound is indie, but it has a slight classic rock edge which brings something completely different to the plate. They interact with members of the curious public peering in from the street, eventually finding themselves running outside and literally playing on the street. This band are honestly not to be missed live, with the amount of energy and effort they put in to this tiny set. Hats off!"
"The Brazen are an Indie-Rock group consisting of Ryan Hobbs, Rob Clayton, Ben Fairbairn, Trev Phillips and Adam Larner. The five piece group have just released their new single ‘Delusion‘ and are also currently touring around the UK. Here we chat exclusively to The Brazen about their latest release, tour, plus future plans."
"Indie rock band The Brazen have come a long way in a relatively short space of time. Just 18 months after they decided to switch from playing other people’s songs to penning original material the Leeds five-piece have written, recorded and just released their first album, Lazer Lips."
Read more at: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/whats-on/music/gig-preview-the-brazen-at-milo-leeds-1-7930369
By Duncan Seaman
By Steve Olcot @ Gigs, Bands & Tours
"There’s a rather non-descript music venue, just off Camden High Street, which has played host to some of the biggest bands in the music industry. Madness played their first proper gig here, Blur, Travis and Amy Winehouse cut their teeth here. Coldplay, Supergrass, The Arctic Monkeys & The Killers have all graced it’s stage on their way to the top. And tonight, another band that will surely join that illustrious list play their first London gig. And absolutely smash it! It seems the Leeds-based band have quite a following, based on the numbers in the room when they take the stage, as opening act on the bill. Often, openers have an empty-ish room to contend with, with more people rather more interested in getting served than listening to the act on stage. Not so tonight (and in fact it’s second on the bill Monyo Project who have the emptier room), as just one day before their debut album drops, a decent and expectant crowd get to hear a cracking set of what turned out to be 8 brilliant genre-crossing songs from the album, ‘Laser Lips’. They refer to their music as ‘anthemic Indie rock’ and this is certainly the case, although there are also elements of soul and pop too. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Opening with ‘Find The Light’, and an early chance to marvel at Ryan’s vocals. They cover a wide range and seem to morph into different styles for each song. For example, on ‘Find The Light’, there’s a distinct Snow Patrol-esque lilt. On next song, ‘Look But Don’t Touch’, he sounds like a young Mick Jagger or Jim Morrison. In fact, the whole song is very reminiscent of The Doors. It could have sounded like a copy or tribute but with the excellent guitar work from Trev, Matt & Rob on bass, the whole track sounds more like an update. A sign of a good band is the ability to mix up the styles and tempo throughout a set, and here The Brazen excel. ‘There Goes My Baby’ and ‘Say Something’ are downtempo, melodic jewels that sit perfectly within the set. The former is a great lyric-driven song which really enraptured the crowd and all attention was directed towards the stage. The latter, although of a lesser rock style than some of their other numbers still had an excellent riff towards the end and started to get the crowd moving. The pace picked up a little at this point with ‘The Hole’ – they have stated previously that The Stone Roses are an influence, and you can hear that hear. Powerful guitars, a great drum line from Adam and a punchy chorus all add up to some proper old-skool Indie. The next song was a bit divisive as there were some in the crowd who absolutely lapped up ‘Get High’ but there were others who seemed to be somewhat disinterested. It’s not that it’s a bad song – there’s a brilliant Led Zep-type riff halfway through – it’s just that the vocals reminded me of early Oasis, raw and intense and the melodies didn’t quite fit that. As I say, it’s not a bad song, it’s just not for me. Latest single ‘Burn It Down’ was next and it’s clear to see why this track has got some great reviews. It’s a good, fun song and again, very Snow Patrol with slower verses and then kicking in with the guitars for the chorus. It’s no wonder it’s a crowd favourite. Final song of the night is the title track of the album, ‘Laser Lips’. Now, when I say The Brazen genre-cross, this is a perfect example. It’s got everything – rock, indie, pop, some of the vocals sound almost Motown, and the overall feel of the song is very “Glam Rock”. Almost a throwback to T.Rex or Slade. It’s not often you see the crowd dancing at an Indie gig but this song got people to throw some moves! Probably helped by all bar Adam climbing off the stage and rocking out in the crowd. No doubt if he could have set up his kit, he’d have been there too. The guys look like they’re having an absolute blast when they’re playing and this energy is infectious, leaving the crowd wanting more when it seemed there may have been time for one more song. Unfortunately, there wasn’t and the disappointment was tangible but there’ll be other, longer sets in the future and I doubt I was the only one already looking forward to their next London gig on September 30th. Well worth getting along to that one!"