“It’s okay that we’re not in love, it’s okay that we’re not enough.”
I’m disappointed with how long it took me to get into Don Broco. For years and years, friends and peers tried to put me onto the UK group, but for some reason I put it off. That was until I, for some reason or another, decided to dip my toes in around the release of their 2018 record and third full-length effort, Technology. The record quickly became one of my favourites of the year, and remained steadfast in my top ten for the remainder it, and I was kicking myself for not trying them sooner.
In retrospect, Technology was a tad lopsided, and rather bloated effort, but many of the songs on that record still remain near and dear to my heart. Their unique blend of laddish pop rock, combined with some of the chunkiest riffs I’ve heard to this day captivated me from the moment I heard the album’s opener and title track, “Technology”.
That brings us to now, three-and-a-half years shy of that release with Don Broco’s fourth full-length, Amazing Things, and it feels like this has been a long time coming. The group did drop some big singles in the interim, most notably 2019’s “ACTION”, which saw the group collaborate with a number of beloved vocalists to craft what is likely still their heaviest outing to date. However, the wait for Amazing Things has still been a long one. So, after all that, how does it stack up?
Openers (and lead singles) “Gumshield” and “Manchester Super Reds No. 1 Fan” demonstrate that Broco aren’t here to retread old group. Both being quirky, unique and admittedly very heavy outings for the group’s standards; these two opening tracks set the scene with a one-two punch of the very best riffs, hooks and vocal performances seen from this group thus far.
Third track “Endorphins” continues the trend set by “Technology”, by uniquely combining the group’s refined pop rock stylings with some of the most stank-face-inducing guitar work I’ve heard all year. The track’s main riff hits like a ten ton truck, cutting right through and captivating the audience’s attention through pure shock after vocalist Rob Damiani aggressively chants “I’m so pathetic”.
Mid-album cut and third single “One True Prince” was a surprise when I first heard it, to say the very least. Further demonstrating the group’s intent to branch off into new directions, “One True Prince” feels more like an ode to Deftones’ “Sextape” or Loathe’s “Two-Way Mirror” than to anything Broco have penned before. A truly mesmerising track from end to end, “One True Prince” stands as one of, if not the very best track(s) that this band has ever crafted. The track’s chorus, drenched in reverb as Damiani and co-vocalist/drummer Matt Donnelly trading off as they emotively belt “it’s okay that we’re not in love, it’s okay that we’re not enough, spinning ‘round a dying sun”. The track’s final chorus contains this truly breathtaking key change, giving its closing moments this overwhelming sense of uplifting emotion. It’s beautiful. I can’t put it into words much better than that.
Disappointingly, around the midpoint with “Anaheim” is where a clear problem starts to arise. Suffering in an almost identical fashion to Spiritbox’s recently released Eternal Blue, while many of the tracks on display here are the group’s strongest material to date, the record suffers from a lack of consideration of flow. “Anaheim” and “How Are You Done With Existing?”, while admittedly gorgeous and relatively well-developed tracks in isolation, significantly hamper the flow of an album that, up to this point, kept its momentum up masterfully.
Luckily, with bombastic cut “Bruce Willis”, Amazing Things picks the pace back up. A chunky, swaggering and synth-laden romp, “Bruce Willis” is the most Don Broco that Don Broco have ever sounded. It’s so uniquely them, with its tongue-in-cheek laddish stylings pushed to a comical level as Damiani aggressively chants “yippee ki-yay, motherfucker, you just caught me on a really bad day”. The low-tuned guitar that occasionally rears its head on this track is a treat too, adding some serious weight to an already-girthy tune.
The penultimate tracks begin to phase out Amazing Things on a strong note. “Revenge Body” combines the group’s groovy, swaggering style with some surprisingly tasteful, almost industrial synth and percussion work. This is, of course, before dropping into a typically chunky and anthemic chorus, as you come to expect from many of the tracks on offer here.
“Bad 4 Ur Health” further proves to be one of the most dynamic cuts on the record, combining a reserved, melodic verse with the track’s balls-to-the-wall chorus that sounds like the group have binned off normal guitars entirely in favour of just routing their bass guitar through a guitar pedal and pummelling the listener into the ground. These tracks don’t quite have the mainstay energy that many of the tracks in the record’s first half do, but they’re still laudable efforts, and incredibly fun in their own right.
Closer “Easter Sunday” brings back the lightly Deftones-inspired dreamscape sound found on “One True Prince” for a truly epic conclusion. Amazing Things’ gorgeous, emotional closing moments serve to be some of the strongest across the entire record, with Donnelly’s chanting vocals drenched in layers of verb over Simon Delaney’s slick guitar, working to help usher the listener out on a high note.
Overall, Amazing Things is far and away Don Broco’s strongest collection of material to date. While the album’s structure leaves much to be desired, and not every cut here is a hit, on the whole Amazing Things is a heavy, anthemic romp that is absolutely worth blasting on repeat. While many of the strongest moments are contained within its first half and in the record’s stellar singles, there’s a breadth of great content to sink your teeth into with this record.
Amazing Things will be available this Friday, October 22nd via Sharptone Records, and you can pre-order the album here. (Please note: physical editions of the record are delayed into the new year.)
8.5/10