Brave Rival: Fight or Flight Review
Rival Sons are probably the first band that springs to mind if a musical game show host asked you to ‘name a band with the word rival in its name‘, but a new, courageous challenger has emerged. Step into the ring Brave Rival. A UK-based classic rock outfit eagerly throwing powerful combinations of rock, blues, and soul at their crowdfunded, sophomore release Fight or Flight.
Clocking in way beyond the final bell close to the 50-minute mark, there’s undoubtedly greater emphasis on the ‘Fight‘ part. It’s punchy and gutsy, landing big from the off with the arena-bred, bluesy stomp of “Bad Choices” — the fifth and last single taken from the album. Think a stop-start guitar riff perfectly offset by a hefty drum beat, before bursting into life with a gang-style ‘woah woah‘ chorus that’s crying out for fervent crowds to join in.
What makes Brave Rival a bit different to the many other fine examples of British blues rock is the soaring, sublime twin lead vocals of Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick. It gives their sound an added freshness and maturity, not to mention an impressive versatility.
The heaviness marches on in “Seventeen” with its lovely wah-led solo, but there’s acoustic-led power ballads like “All I Can Think About About” that are dreamily dramatic and operatic, while the wounded blues and beautiful harmonies of “Stars Upon My Scars” closes with the fleet fingered prowess of Ed ‘The Shred’ Clarke (the nickname makes sense now!).
Given their voices blend together so seamlessly, it feels the female duo can take a song in directions others simply can’t. Take the stunning emotional vocal of “Heavy” which expands into something very special with the gorgeous strings from the Vulcan String Quartet juxtaposed against heavy driving guitars.
‘There’s a different energy’ on show here, according to Bonnick, and it would take a brave rival to bet against her musings.
After all, you don’t come up with full-blown epics like “Insane” and the aforementioned “Heavy” if you’ve lost your verve. Building from gentle guitar and plays with light and shade, before jettisoning to full-band workouts, they prick up your ears through the originality and superb musicianship.
The lyrical theme of the record carries a strong thread around mental health. While it remains a challenging stigma to quash, there’s no denying the group have washed their hands with the notorious difficult second album syndrome.
Instead they’re ‘feeling on top of the world‘, with catchy first single “Five Years On” celebrating the 5-year anniversary of the band in all their swaggering glory. Bravery never goes out of fashion, and neither do a dozen songs this doozy.
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