While people may be championing ET TU BRUCE as a British Fleet Foxes, to my ears they have very little in common with ‘the beards without songs’ from across the pond. While everything with harmonies and acoustic guitars nowadays appears to be shoved under the next-Fleet Foxes or next-Mumfords umbrella, Et Tu Bruce’s musical heritage seems to go further back than many of their band wagon jumping contemporaries.
Their first single (available on a lovely red vinyl since you ask) is a laid back, breezy affair that benefits hugely from its home-recorded feel. There are shades of parochial Kinks and late Small Faces in its rejection of modern life (“this city ain’t my cup of tea”) and the falsetto harmonies are distinctly Beatles-esque rather than West-Coast Beach Boys. It’s The La’s with real ale and jumpers rather than trackies and heroin.
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Whether this is what you want from a new British band is another question entirely. It’s mildly distressing that a musical culture that served up the Pistols and the Manics at moments of cultural disintegration is now producing music this cosy in a time of crisis. Still, if you spent the London riots in the safe haven of a country pub waiting for the whole thing to blow over, this is probably for you.
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