The Bravery News

Stripped of the heavy, synth-driven sound of their debut, The Bravery inject a little more rock and a few bright moments into their sophomore effort, "The Sun and the Moon."

Favoring dominant yet simple bass lines and more aggressive lead work on guitar, the disc is still drenched with new wave and the keyboards remain vital.

Vocalist Sam Endicott stretches out on refreshing acoustic tracks like "Tragedy Bound" and "The Ocean" — but seemscliche with lyrics like "The ocean rolls us away." Similarly, disc opener "Believe" sports a catchy bass riff, but seems uninspired with the chorus, "So give me something to believe, 'Cause I'm living just to breathe."

They hit a few high notes with infectious keyboard lines on the trippy "Fist Full of Sand" and the poppy "Angelina," as well as the love-lost rocker "Split Me Wide Open" and a soaring "Time Won't Let Me Go."

"Bad Sun" is a guilty pleasure with its whistling — yes, whistling — hook line, but they fail to strike the right chord of irony and get a little too cute with "Every Word From Your Mouth Is a Knife in My Ear."

"The Sun and the Moon" is a bit more adventurous for The Bravery, so don't let the few sprinkles of repetition on a few tracks spoil the enjoyable leaps they manage to take here and there.

CHECK THIS OUT: OK, so you can argue that it sounds like Franz Ferdinand, but "This Is Not The End" has plenty of kinetic energy and start-and-stop guitar jangle — at least enough to tell you right away if you'll love or hate this band.