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'Sun and the Moon' rises and sets with The Bravery

BY KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT

File/Provided

The Bravery will play a show on Wednesday at The Music Farm.

Electroclash. By and large, most reading this are probably asking what in the world is that?

So, just imagine a pair of would-be musicians with guitars and keyboards, along with their iMac, and essentially you'll hear a fusion of indie rock and electronica.

And there you go electroclash, err, The Bravery.

Sam Endicott and John Conway initially formed what would eventually become The Bravery in the late '90s while attending Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

As freshmen they played in a mock-ska band before evolving into more of a new wave outfit. After moving to New York City the pair joined Michael Zakarin and his Georgetown University classmate Mike Hindert in an attempt to write songs that were, as Endicott would later describe, "something new and bold."

In 2003, the group was one of the first bands to create a MySpace profile and by year's end they enlisted the services of drummer Anthony Burulcich and in November they played their first live gig.

Less than six months later the band was selling out shows and in August of 2004 they signed with Island/Def Jam Records.

On the day their debut album was released the band was involved in a highly publicized feud with Vegas band The Killers, who accused their new label mates of taking advantage of The Killer's success and that there was no way that a one-time ska band would earnestly evolve.

The controversy only brought more attention to The Bravery.

For the band's sophomore effort The Bravery wanted to create "new textures and sounds" so they enlisted the assistance of producer Brendon O'Brien, who had worked with everyone from Rage Against the Machine and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to Neil Young and Pearl Jam.

The original concept for the album "The Sun and the Moon" was to create two very different albums contained within one release. They wanted "The Sun" to have a more organic approach. In other words, an acoustic sound, whereas "The Moon" would be more of a do-it-yourself, indie dance production.

"We went so synth-crazy (on the first album) that it got a little boring to us," Endicott said. "It was more like what does an acoustic piano sound like or what are real organ sounds? That stuff was more exciting to us."

Unfortunately, it never really played out that way.

So while touring in support of the initial 2007 release of "The Sun and the Moon" the band began reworking the songs in a mobile studio they assembled in the back lounge of their tour bus.

Earlier this year they released "The Sun and the Moon Complete."

The project is the two albums repackaged together.

This time, however, "The Sun" is the original O'Brien produced version and "The Moon" is the same 12 songs in the exact same order, only reimagined by the band.

"This is 'The Moon' side of 'The Sun and the Moon.' All the same songs, but a completely different album," Endicott said. " 'The Sun' is us experimenting in the studio; 'The Moon' is us back on our home turf."

That turf, so to speak, is an electroclash of ideas.

Keith Ryan Cartwright is a Colorado-based freelance entertainment journalist.