Track Listings
1 Thousand Years (2:55)
2 Nobody Dances Anymore (3:25)
3 Earthquakes and Sharks (2:57)
4 Denim Inequity (3:23)
5 Here We Go (3:27)
6 Tapping the Vain (3:22)
7 Cold War (3:57)
8 Parallels (4:10)
9 Stop Machine (3:25)
10 Friend or Faux? (2:59)
11 Lie to Me (3:23)
12 Goodnight Sweet Prince (3:52)
13 Secret (3:22)
 

Discography
Hello, Control (2006)
Send Us a Signal (2004)
Death & Taxes (2003)
Dial In Sounds (2002)
Trying to Figure Each Other Out (2000)
Fallen Star Collection (1999)
Letterbox (1998)

Release Date: (May 02, 2006)
Label: Militia Group
Producer: Ed Rose & Brandtson

  December  Hotel 
  Overall Rating:  ++++  

Everett M. Dirkson once said, "Life is not a static thing." This couldn't be more true when it comes to music. Every few years, there is a new version of anti-pop, and within time, hipsters even become anti the anti-pop. How long ago was it when 'emo' made its big splash? Who were the pioneering bands of the then-refreshing sound? Even now, we quickly recognize the genre and the era when it first emerged, yet it's difficult to name drop THE band, ya know? A few come to mind...Jimmy Eat World...Weezer...ect. Enter Ohio based 4-piece band Brandtson. These guys have been busy developing an ever growing, devoted fan-base for almost a decade. Aggressive and overtly pop structures wrapped around anthemic rock resonant in every album. Loosely ( and more accurately, lazily) labeled 'emo', as it's a genre that is very subjectively identified, the bands most recent efforts (Dial In Sounds & Send Us A Signal) were thick with melody, and solid musical statements. But in today's over polluted rock market, Brandtson could not afford to make a sterile record. The good news is that their second album for The Militia Group finds the band redefining themselves in all the right ways.

Hello, Control is a brilliantly packaged 13 song album that delivers as much as its exterior promises. The pop-rock hooks are bountiful as always, but Brandtson spends a great deal of their time developing a new foundation for their songs - electronica. No, this isn't Death Cab getting all Postal on us, this is Brandtson getting all arty and exploiting the genius within them. The unsuspecting and airy "A Thousand Years" opens the record, and so far, you're thinking that this will be more of the adorable territory the band has covered in the past. Then "Nobody Dances Tonight" kicks in! The synths are dominant, and even a bit of a vocoder effect messes with the vocals. The dueling harmonies are electric. This is a whole new Brandtson. "Earthquakes & Shakes" sounds like the band covering Modest Mouse's "Float On". But the highlight of the album is the hyper "Here We Go", complete with bleeps and laptop noise chiming equally with guitars. Even familiar territory like "Cold War" features laptop beats in the songs undercurrent. It's safe to say with all confidence that this is the album of Brandtson's career up to this point, and it will be a very difficult (if not impossible) task to top Hello, Control. Call it post-emo-electronic-rock. This is one party of a record.