The Brandos are an American rock band formed in 1985 in New York City by Dave Kincaid (vocals, guitar), Ernie Mendillo (bass, vocals), Ed Rupprecht (guitar, vocals) and Larry Mason (drums, vocals).
The Brandos achieved commercial success in the United States in 1987 with the release of their first album, Honor Among Thieves and the single “Gettysburg.” They have also established a strong fan base in Europe, where they have done promotion and extensive touring since the late 1980s. They have occasionally made it high on the record charts in countries such as the Netherlands.
In 2010 the recordings from the 2004 Irish Tour were mixed and the live album David Kincaid and The Brandos – Live in Europe was released on Dec. 1, 2010 and distributed in Europe by Blue Rose. The only current member of The Brandos is singer, guitarist and songwriter Dave Kincaid.
The passion, grit and power of New York’s The Brandos has origins in the Seattle scene of the early eighties. In the fall of 1984, Dave Kincaid and Larry Mason were playing the Seattle club circuit as members of The Allies. With a local radio hit (‘Emma Peel’), critically acclaimed recordings, and a video under their belts. At the same time, New Jersey based Soul Attack (with Ernie Mendillo and Ed Rupprecht) were playing gigs in and around their home state, with occasional jaunts into New York City. They had also made and released a local record in 1984.
Frustrated with The Allies’ lack of success, Kincaid decided to move to New York in 1985. Immediately upon arrival Kincaid began scouring the local music papers, namely the Village Voice, looking for a new band. Soul Attack had just lost their principal singer and songwriter, and had just placed an ad looking for a replacement. Kincaid joined the band and they eventually changed their name to The Brandos and performed their first show on February 14, 1986. Featuring Kincaid on vocals and guitar, Ernie Mendillo (bass, vocals), Ed Rupprecht (guitar), and Larry Mason (drums), the band began playing most of New York’s most renowned clubs such as CBGB, Tramps, The Bitter End and Kenny’s Castaways. The band also spent one month touring the Pacific Northwest. By October they had enough material for an album. While recording, the band continued to perform in the New York area, along with a brief tour of Germany in May 1987.
The Brandos released their debut album, Honor Among Thieves, on Relativity Records in late August 1987. The album spent 19 weeks in the Billboard charts and peaked at No.108 in late October. During this period, the band began touring the U.S. and Europe, opening for well-known bands such as The Georgia Satellites, INXS, The Cars and The Alarm. Their first video was released and was placed in medium rotation on MTV. The favorable reviews began to pour in: the Gavin Report dubbed them “Best new American band”, Rolling Stone magazine ran a full-page story describing them as “Real contenders”, and Time magazine clinched it with their quote “The Brandos’ roots run deep and offer great nourishment”. In early 1988, the band won Best Album (Independent Label), and Kincaid was honored with Best Male Vocalist (Independent Label) at the New York Music Awards. The Brandos also left Relativity that year and signed with Geffen Records. Their relationship with Geffen was strained from the outset and the group ended up at RCA Records in 1989. After a massive corporate restructuring, RCA dropped The Brandos upon completion of their second LP, Trial by Fire (unreleased), in 1990.
The better part of 1991 was spent writing and recording new material for a new album that would become Gunfire at Midnight, which would land a contract with SPV GmbH in Germany in the spring of 1992. Two singles from the album (‘The Solution’ and ‘The Keeper’) would reach the top 100 in the Netherlands. Extensive touring in Europe would follow, solidifying the band’s fan base even further, however Rupprecht and Mason decided to leave the band in 1993. The Brandos recorded their next album The Light of Day with the help of a few friends, especially ex-Del Lords members Scott Kempner (guitar, vocals) and Frank Funaro (drums, vocals). They filled out the live band, and an extensive tour and live album, recorded in Amsterdam in December 1994, followed. In 1996, The Brandos returned with Pass the Hat and Frank Giordano (guitar, vocals) replacing Kempner. The album marked a return to a more stripped-down guitar sound. Kincaid released a solo album, The Irish Volunteer, in 1997 but returned to The Brandos for another album (Nowhere Zone) in 1998 followed by two tours of Europe with the likes of Bryan Adams, Van Morrison, and Deep Purple.
1999 saw the release of Contribution: The Best of 1985-1999. The band continued to tour Europe over the next few years. Following the 2003 release of “The Irish-American’s Song,” Kincaid’s second effort of songs of the Irish in the American Civil War, a European tour was organized in early 2004. Chris Layer (uilleann pipes, flute and whistle) accompanied Kincaid, Mendillo and Giordano for performances in Germany, Holland, Belgium and Denmark, with three of the shows being recorded.
It would, however, be another seven years before the band would record any new material. Over the Border was released by Blue Rose Records in late 2006 to positive reviews. Kincaid and Mendillo were accompanied on the drums by Funaro once again along with Dennis Diken (The Smithereens) and Simon Kirke (Bad Company, Free). The band toured extensively with ex-From Good Homes member Patrick Fitzsimmons (drums, vocals) and Ziga Stanonik (guitar, vocals). The band also recorded a live CD and DVD (Town to Town, Sun to Sun) released on Blue Rose in early 2008. Another tour followed with ex-Del Lords and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts member Eric Ambel (guitar, vocals) and Phil Cimino (drums). Their lone 2008 appearance in New York City was their first in 10 years.
In 2010 the recordings from the 2004 Irish Tour were mixed and the long-awaited live album David Kincaid and The Brandos – Live in Europe was released on Dec. 1, 2010 and distributed in Europe by Blue Rose.
After more than nine years of silence, the Brandos returned in June, 2017 with a new album called “Los Brandos”. It contained 10 new tracks, of which five are sung in English and the other five in Spanish. There are no Irish themes on this album, like there were on most of the earlier efforts. Original bassist Ernie Mendillo did not participate, as he had left the band in 2015, while guitarist Frank Giordano, who had left the group in 1999, returned just in time to help record the album. He stayed with the band for the following tour in Germany and the Netherlands which lasted from the end of May until the end of June. On June, 9, 2017, The Brandos also made an appearance at the Sweden Rock Festival. (wikipedia)
Fans have had to wait almost eleven years for the band’s new studio album. Just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of their debut “Honour Among Thieves”, The Brandos are making themselves heard again. However, only lead singer and guitarist David Kincaid is still one of the founding members. The band leader, who comes from California and lives in New York, has enlisted the support of Frank Giordano (guitar, backing vocals) and Tommy Goss (drums) for “Los Brandos”.
As the title suggests, the CD also includes tracks sung in Spanish. On the previous studio album “Over The Border”, the final song already hinted that Kincaid would also try his hand in this language in the future. Here he now sings five of the ten songs in Spanish.
Although they have Spanish lyrics, the two powerful rock songs “Señor Coyote” and “Querer A Los Niños” with their dominant guitars and Kincaid’s distinctive voice make it immediately clear that The Brandos are back. The same applies to “Maligna Presencia”, which scores with a change of tempo and is a highlight among the Spanish songs.
The melodic guitars are convincing in the softer “Bella Encantadora”, although the song seems a little too smooth overall. The low-sung Tex-Mex number “A Todo Dar”, written by Ignacio Jaime, on the other hand, crashes along unpolished.
The second cover “Jacinto Chiclana” was originally composed by Astor Piazolla and provided with lyrics by Jorge Luis Borges. Maria Gómez takes over the backing vocals on this solemn piece, which is presented in an English translation.
“Suffer In Silence” and “Woodstock Guitar” fit seamlessly into the Brandos’ previous releases with their suspenseful songwriting, catchy choruses, great guitar playing and expressive vocals. On “What Kind Of A World”, Kincaid only accompanies himself with an acoustic guitar, allowing his vocal qualities to come into their own. With “These Troubled Times”, a rocking English-language number finds its way onto the album, which is one of my favourites.
Kincaid also shows on the new disc that he can write great songs and perform unmistakably. The songs sung in Spanish work and are recognisable as Brandos songs. Nevertheless, Kincaid manages to utilise the variance of his voice somewhat better in his mother tongue.
The accompanying booklet provides the English translations. This makes sense, as the texts certainly have a message. They represent a literary commentary on historical or social circumstances and on human questions of meaning. While Kincaid had previously turned to his Irish roots and thus to Celtic-inspired folk rock in terms of music and content, he now takes a look at his Mexican branch of the family and his new role as the father of a son.
Kincaid needed a long breath to realise his albums. Previous legal disputes with the record company and personal circumstances have repeatedly delayed releases. The completion of the new longplayer, which was announced back in 2015 on Blue Rose Records, was probably also beset with problems. This product shows that the effort was worth it.
The sixty-year-old should be granted that the work is successful and that the current tour goes accordingly. It is to be hoped that “Los Brandos” will not be the last musical sign of life from Kincaid. (by Michael Segets)
Without any doubt: The Brandos are a criminally underrated band !
Personnel:
Frank Giordano (guitar, vocals)
Tommy Goss (drums)
Dave Kincaid (vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass, keyboards programming)
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Marta Gomez (vocals on 05.)
Tracklist:
01. Señor Coyote (Kincaid) 5.19
02. Querer a Los Niños (Kincaid) 4.10
03. Suffer In Silence (Kincaid) 4.19
04. Woodstock Guitar (Kincaid) 4.18
05. Jacinto Chiclana (Piazzolla/Borges) 4.09
06. Maligna Presencia (Kincaid) 4.45
07. What Kind Of A World (Kincaid) 4.09
08. Bella Encantadora (Kincaid) 4.39
09. These Troubled Times (Kincaid) 4.41
10. A Todo Dar (Jaime) 2.39
More from The Brandos in this blog:
In Exile – Live is the first live album of THE BRANDOS from 1995, available for the first time as digipak edition! They owe their name to their love of Marlon Brando. Their fans know them as one of the most vital American live rock bands of the 20th century’s final decades. THE BRANDOS, known for timeless classics like “”The Solution”” and “”Gettysburg”” and their straight and true rock sound, were founded in 1986 with the line-up of David Kincaid (voc, g, mand, banjo), Ed Rupprecht (g), Larry Mason (dr) and Ernie Mendillo (b, voc) in New York City. The voice of Dan Kincaid was always compared to John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival and the catching live document In Exile – Live sounds exactly like one of the best American bands from the 60s. The album which contains 18 tracks was recorded with the line-up Dave Kincaid, Ernie Mendillo, Scott Kempner and Frank Funaro on December 20th and 21st, 1994 in Amsterdam and Utrecht (The Netherlands) and contains songs from the band’s studio albums plus the traditional “”The Recruiting Sergeant””.
The Brandos are an American rock band formed in 1985 in New York City by Dave Kincaid (vocals, guitar), Ernie Mendillo (bass, vocals), Ed Rupprecht (guitar, vocals) and Larry Mason (drums, vocals).
The Brandos are clearly unique. Their musicianship is superb and their ability to write creative music and lyrics, in my humble opinion, surpasses any group I have heard in the past 10 years. The Brandos started out as a West Coast band called The Allies (noted for a song called “Mrs. Peal” – the album title is “The Allies”and hailed from Washington State (like another superb group: The Ventures). There is also a tie between between these two groups in the sense that there are echos of The Ventures that one can find in the guitar work of their lead guitarist. The Brandos lead guitarist, David Kincaid, when asked by the European version of Rolling Stone what he thought was the best guitar solo in rock and roll he responded with Bob Bogle’s version of “Walk Don’t Run.” Bogle, who has passed away, was one of the founders of The Ventures and can be credited with starting the “surfing sound” of the 1960s.
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