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Reviewed by Amanda Robinson

The Thomas Brothers: Self-titled

Reviewed by Amanda Robinson

The Thomas Brothers: Self-titled

This self-titled album from Auckland’s (actual) Thomas Brothers does more than just ensure the history of brother-based bands producing high-quality indie rock continues. Instrumentally, piano, bass drum and heavy reverb-filled guitar solos dominate each track. Most songs on the album contain an arc in which they build up to an epic loud, defined centre, before slowing to finish. A Little Time, This Trouble I’m In, Keep Holding On and I Can’t Deny It all feel like they belong in the soundtrack to an indie film where everything is going wrong for the lead couple – but they have each other, and that’s enough. It’s difficult to place this album within a defined genre as it spans many. A few tracks do feel a little disjointed, sometimes going from punk to piano to pop to heavy rock all within one song. However, this is never enough to draw attention away from the album as a whole, which has much to offer. The Thomas Brothers have done the bulk of the work on this self-produced album, with Samuel writing and arranging most of the tracks. Mixed by Nic Manders, the quality production is what ties each song together and makes the album work. This is the product of four years of work by four brothers, culminating in an album that contains so much within it, pondering questions of love and loss.