Breed 77 build upon the sound of previous album, ‘Cultura’ that was as big and bold as a Barbary Ape, to show this Gibraltar born, melodically metallic craftsmen in all their finery. ‘Petroleo (You Will Be King)’ immediately provides a shiny platform for the launch of Paul Isola’s rugged and forceful vocals, as the track builds from a cosmopolitan, ambient intro to transform into a charging post/rock assault. Isola’s versatile vocal range allows the band to genre hop. They display broad musical prowess, such as in the troubled and self deprecating ‘Blind’ that revives the grunge spirit with impunity. Stuart Cavilla’s Chugging bass lines toe the track along and allow Breed 77 to be at their most lyrically transparent, resulting in an eerie tale of human ignorance that reaches shuddering point.
The tingling percussive build up to ‘Remember That Day’ shows an impressive ability to build up nostalgia like an old black and white flick, to allow Isola to paint a streak of blue into his vocal coat. The album takes an empirical twist midway through, noticeably in the slow and yearning ‘Look At Me Now’ and it highlights the reason why everyone expected Breed 77 to command the print and the attention that Fall Out Boy went on to be granted, though the latter band did not necessary earn those accolades, but that’s modern rock for you. Previous single ‘Alive’ captures all the ambience and passion, shrouding it in crushing percussion and filtering in some mystically downtrodden lyrical snap. Breed 77 is gathering momentum that is built from a base of broad musical expansion.
