Pop Quiz: The Bravery

Pop Quiz: The Bravery

Aidin Vaziri | Yeah, yeah, the Bravery is to the Strokes what Stone Temple Pilots was to Nirvana -- a fourth-generation Xerox with only the most superficial bits still visible. So what? The band's self-titled debut album is more fun than a New Order reunion concert, and the five young men that make the '80s- influenced music have the most geometric haircuts since Interpol. Besides, the Bravery's hit single, "An Honest Mistake," is harder to kick than a PCP habit.



Sam Endicott of The Bravery
Q: I understand you were once in a band called Skabba the Hut.
A: Well, in college I played bass in this ska band. But that was, like, eight years ago. It was a joke.
Q: What a difference eight years makes.
A: I had this epiphany moment where it all hit me like a bullet. I was tired of working with singers that would f -- my s -- up.
Q: Does it bother you that people say your band sounds like the Strokes and the Killers?
A: No band likes to be compared to other bands because we all like to think we're unique and original and all that, but at least we're being compared to good bands instead of crappy ones.
Q: Your voice does sound a lot like Julian Casablancas on the album. But that might just be because you learned to sing over the phone.
A: That's pretty funny. Um, no. We had a broken microphone that gave it this weird sound but we really liked how it sounded so we just used it for all the stuff.
Q: But you really did learn to sing over the phone.
A: Yeah, totally. I was living in New York and I had a friend in Maryland who I would call twice a week and she gave me lessons over the phone.