| Viva Brother | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Slough, England |
| Genres | Britpop, pop rock |
| Years active | 2010-present[1] |
| Labels | Geffen |
| Website | acidlove.net |
| Members | |
| Leonard Newell Joshua Ward Samuel Jackson Franklin Colucci |
|
Viva Brother[2] are an English Britpop band from Burnham and Maidenhead.[3] Previously known as Brother, they were signed to major global record label Geffen Records in October 2010 and to EMI Publishing in November 2010.[4][5] Their debut album, Famous First Words, was released on August 1, 2011.
They describe their sound as "Gritpop"[6][7] and count bands such as Blur,[8] The Stone Roses and The Smiths among their influences.[9] "Oh Brother! New band Brother are dividing opinion – what do you think?". Louder than War. Jan 12, 2011. http://louderthanwar.com/blogs/oh-brother-new-band-brother-are-dividing-opinion-what-do-you-think.</ref>[10]
Upon playing their debut release - "Darling Buds of May" - on his BBC Radio 1 show, DJ Zane Lowe stated "We like [the song's] classic song structure, it harks back to a time of craft in British songwriting, before the edginess. It's classic..."[11] Lowe also picked-up on the band's blog site www.acidlove.net. The site featured a video of the band setting-up and playing a guerrilla gig in front of the railway station of their hometown, Slough, along with a promo video they had shot using money they had earned playing local gigs.[12][13] Lowe's playing of their demo resulted in the band being signed to Geffen Records.[9]
During February and March 2011 the band went on an UK tour with Indie pop/UK garage rapper The Streets and performed several gigs at the influential South by Southwest.[14]
On 5 March 2011, Viva Brother appeared on early morning football show Soccer AM. They revealed that the name for the album was to be named Famous First Words, after discussing it in the canteen just half an hour before the interview.
In June 2011, they were forced to change their band name from Brother to Viva Brother due to a lawsuit brought by another band, also called Brother. Leonard Newell admitted that his band went ahead with the name, Brother, despite being aware of the fact that other musicians were already using the name.[2]
Contents |
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [15] |
IRL |
CAN |
US |
JPN [16] |
|||
| 2011 | Famous First Words
|
34 | – | – | – | 46 |
None |
| "–" denotes that the album did not chart. | |||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2011 | "Darling Buds of May" | – | Famous First Words |
| "Still Here" | – | ||
| "New Year's Day" | – | ||
| "Time Machine" | – | ||
| "–" denotes that the single did not chart. | |||