Album Review: Jeff The Brotherhood - Hypnotic Nights

The Orrall brothers – aka JEFF The Brotherhood – have garnered comparisons as varied as Weezer and The Ramones and variants therein. All are warranted – their loud, fuzzed out rock, basic lyrical content and devilish party assault is all about being young, dumb and full of fun, swinging between frenzied garage punk, psychedelic jams and silly pop ramblings with wilful abandon. They got the concoction just right with last year's We Are The Champions, and are back just in time for the Australian summer (with Black Keys' Dan Auerbach in the production seat) with Hypnotic Nights. And whilst the formula at first glance is the same, and having signed up to the big leagues ensures their immediate future, much of what made previous offerings seem refreshing now seems staid to the point of blandness.

That isn't to say that they've disappeared into the rabbit hole of banality, more that their adherence to past endeavours has painted their appeal into a corner. Six-Pack is inherently fun and the perfect boozy sunshine fodder, whilst Mystic Portal II is Weezer writ large before an Eastern-inflected outro takes it into White Denim territory. But the insistence of the same guitar riffs and basic lyrical content sounds like an act that's done its share of musical adventuring and is now willing to settle for what brings in the Benjamin's. The first minute of Wind Ox alludes to a psychedelic interplay that never eventuates, instead opting to stomp through another scuzzy pop number; Staring At The Wall sounds exactly like half their previous album.

There is vitality and verve here, no question – it's the predictability of Hypnotic Nights that hurts the most.