Packing in all the ingredients to set your heart racing. Brave Rival deliver a musical adrenalin rush on Fight Or Flight.

Release Date: 16th August 2024

Label: Self release

Format: digital / CD / vinyl

Oh, Brave Rival, where were you when I was 15 and needed you most, when very little in life topped the thrill of discovering a new band totally in step with what the stereo in your bedroom was crying out for. Moving on more decades that I care to admit, and whatever your age, they still have all the ingredients to set your heart racing.

On the evidence of my own eyes, they appear to have secured the approval of one Robert Plant, a man who knows a little about creating musical excitement and innovation, having been spotted engaging in a little mutual admiration at one of their increasingly frequent gigs earlier this year. It is therefore no surprise to see them cutting an award laden swathe through the established order of British Blues/Rock and this, their second studio album, serves as evidence for this, particularly if you have yet to experience them live.

Fronted by twin female singers Chloe Josephine and Lindsey Bonnick, inevitably there are comparisons to Heart, joined by guitarist Ed Clarke, making references to Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac not unreasonable. The line up is completed by a solid rhythm section of bassist Billy Dedman and drummer Donna Peters, the sound is also variously augmented by keyboards, a string quartet, harmonica and a choir made up from among their own ‘Bravian’ following.

The overall feel is, as might be expected, defined by the co-vocalist delivery and the guitar of the man known to the cognoscenti as not just Ed Clarke, but indeed ‘The Shred’. Fully 50 years and more on from several of their influences, they are more than capable of adding something of their own to the mix, admitting to an eclectic set of influences, with Ed referencing Guns N Roses, while the three female members started out a folk trio, presumably the basis for an apparently telepathic vocal interplay, which isn’t to downplay the hard yards of gigging that have undoubtedly contributed to the development of the songs before committing them to tape – or whatever medium they chose to record on!

The gigging in of the tracks is apparent in the energy of the songs, there’s a feng shui to the dynamic of the overall set, as well as within individual songs – this is no straightforward sonic attack, there is light and shade, there is power and glory, it rocks and it rolls. Opener Bad Choices offers everything you will need, driving, soulful vocals, instrumental wizardry and a chant along chorus – just made to be a live anthem! Next up, Seventeen has all the bravado of the indestructible teenager, and links to the visceral excitement of most of the lyrical themes within the rest of the album.

Of course there are highlights – but applying the tracks three and four rule (the band have opened with the numbers to draw you in, but what comes next…) there is quality across the board. There’s also a nod to the old tradition of saving something a little different to bring an album to a quality end and Stars Upon My Scars serves the purpose well – a fuzzily bluesy intro, classic guitar solos and vocals building to a crescendo in an almost 7 minute epic tale of love and regret. It leaves the listener to decide which tracks to put on repeat first, or go for the whole album; the answer, I went for Five Years On – there’s anger, confidence and drive in one of the singles taken from the album, and prophetic in that they claim that, half a decade forward, rather than standing in their way, you will be coming to their gigs. Don’t leave it that long though. At the time of writing, they had another 30 before the end of the year.

Fight Or Flight, a musical adrenaline rush, can’t decide which to do – just go along with the ride, it’ll take you where you want to go!

Here’s Bad Choices (and great fun!):

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