Brigade are a band that I’ve had a soft spot for ever since seeing them live them supporting Fightstar at Newcastle Uni a couple of years ago. Since then I’ve seen them live a couple more and they’ve always impressed and their debut album, Lights, was a bit of a stonker. 

But now time has passed and what we have here is their sophomore effort Come Morning We Fight and with this release it is immediately apparent that the band are maturing at a frightening rate. Whilst the overall sound isn’t a million miles removed from what they produced with Lights the whole affair is definitely more polished and even, dare I say it, slightly more main stream than the debut could ever have hoped to be. Although the sound of bands like Bowling For Soup and the aforementioned Fightstar was evident on the debut album, a couple of years of solid roadwork now sees Brigade sounding more  like a mixture of U2, My Chemical Romance, Placebo and in particular Muse thanks mainly to Wills clear and understandable vocals - no grunts for this boy. 

On an album that overall is strong in depth highlights that have to mentioned include current single Pilot, the catchy Together Apart with its insistent riff and Won’t Let Go, a song that is very aptly named as it simply won’t get out of your head after a couple of listens. It will probably drive the crowd wild live. Four Kids To A Glockenspiel is the band’s big ballad and this is where the resemblance to US and Muse is most apparent and is most certainly a song that Brigade would not have attempted on the debut release. That’s not to say that the band have cut all ties with the past, Vice To Versa and Asinine in particular could have come straight from Lights and serve ably as a  link between what Brigade are delivering now and the past. 

Summing up Come Morning We Fight delivers real growth on the part of Brigade without sacrificing any of the elements which the band so appealing in the first place and, as an album it has the potential to take Brigade up the next level both in terms of commercial success and fan appeal.

Dougie