"Bruce Springsteen."
"Gary Numan."
"Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."
"The Police."
Those hoary forbearers are what have elevated the band's intense interest in craftsmanship to levels that now approach perfectionism. "It's trying to find simplest and most straightforward way to get across what you're trying to say," Joel says. "We didn't understand the value of that until listening to the concise nature of pop." A comparison is drawn between the group's songwriting goals and poetry, the desire being to shrink it all down – lyrically and instrumentally – so that each word and part makes a difference within the whole. "We want to play music where the parts are kind of obvious rather than self-consciously surprising," says Henry. "Surprise is not an end in and of itself."
Their debut album makes good on these conceptual premises with its economical, chugging pop. Gary Numan's presence is indeed felt when the synths and mechanical beats kick in on songs like the sparkling "Strawberry Blonde," yet there is a textural warmth and modestly anthemic quality that hints at the internalized chum-rock of goodtimers like McCartney and the Police without betraying any direct influence. Bravo Silva does jagged and dreamy equally well on this disc -- a more streamlined and familiar version of high-art citymates Lansing-Dreiden -- and still achieves a unified mood that allows the whole thing to hang together surprisingly well. And while the melodies aren't always strong enough to propel the rather safe arrangements, the band allows that these songs represent a transitional phase in their development, one that hadn't seen their songcraft ideas and ideals -- or even the current lineup -- crystallize just yet.
The past few months have seen the band's two writers distill their notions of what a record should be and do, and future efforts onstage and in the studio look to squeeze fresh life out of those old forms practiced by the grayhairs they study on the radio. And it is the "fresh" aspect that ultimately makes the recordings such a pleasure. Bravo Silva offers neither regressive fetishism nor strategic influence posturing; the group draws broadly from the lessons of rock and pop acts past and thrusts the useful elements into the sonic present. With a shrug, Henry puts it plainly: "There's still a lot of potential for powerful things to happen within a classic-rock song format."
Bravo Silva play at the Syrup Room on Saturday night. For more info visit www.bravosilva.com.
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