BROUGHTON'S RULES

"Bounty Hunter 1853" is the debut full-length studio album by US, Pittsburgh based post rock act Broughton´s Rules. The album was released through Relapse Records in November 2010. Broughton´s Rules features ex-members of Don Caballero and Blunderbuss.

The music on the album is predominantly guitar driven instrumental post rock (Mogwai are no strangers to Broughton´s Rules). There are sporadic vocals on some tracks ("Broadside" is an example of that), but they are sparse. It´s audible that Broughton´s Rules are skilled musicians and they deliver their music with a nice organic touch which is further enhanced by the warm and organic sounding production. While the tracks feature recognisable parts which are repeated more than once during their playing time, the material are generally more intriguingly structured than the tried and true vers/chorus formula.

upon conclusion "Bounty Hunter 1853" is not exactly a revelation of the post rock style, but it´s overall a very enjoyable release of good quality in both songwriting, sound production, and musicianship. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

For their first effort, BR had more of a mix of Don Caballero's math rock into the band's newfound love of post. The title track and opener is some of the best math of its year, for one. Immediately after, with "Disaster of The Week", we lean heavily on post. The album proceeds as such, a math track and then a post track. "Childhood Sun" is another stick out track, with its use of electronics as the driving beat in a post track. Nothing long, but still excellent. Ellsworth and Matthews play guitar as wonderfully as ever in both styles, and original drummer Kearn does as well as later drummer Doyle in supporting the music. A masterpiece right out of the gate for Pittsburgh's post math champions, this and all their albums are unique and enjoyable.

From the ashes of the legendary Don Caballero has risen the phoenix of Broughton's Rules, a band which uniquely happens to sit at the crossover of Don's math rock and both post rock and even post metal. This album is heavy, pretty much sitting at the border of rock and metal. On it, there are a few quick, frantic parts in the vein of the Don's wonderful style, such as the opener "Reversers", but by the time of the title track, twelve minutes in length, we've gone post, lost in a hazy atmosphere. The record, then, covers a lot of ground, and the band does it surprisingly well; we knew they'd pull off the math flawlessly as ever, but who knew they could drone? The title track is the best track on the album, and the rest is still excellent and gripping. Matthews and Ellsworth just nail their guitars, and Doyle's drums are the secret weapon on the more spacey, posty parts. The band has made it clear they wish to proceed more and more into post than sticking with math, and if anything this album is a wonderful proof that this is something they can do, and something they should do. Just killer.