Brandos – Record-facts…

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Honor Among Thieves is the debut album by the American band the Brandos, released in 1987. The first single was “Gettysburg”, which was a minor hit on radio and MTV.

The album peaked at No. 108 on the Billboard 200. The band supported the album with a North American tour that included stints opening for INXS, the Georgia Satellites, and the Cars. Honor Among Thieves won a New York Music Award for the best independent debut of 1987.

Most of the album’s songs were written by singer Dave Kincaid, who also produced. He strove to make the songs sound similar to each other. Kincaid’s slide guitar playing was influenced by his love of the Allman Brothers Band‘s At Fillmore East.

Honor Among Thieves was mixed at Power Station, in New York. “Strychnine” and “Walking on the Water” are covers of songs by, respectively, the Sonics and Creedence Clearwater Revival. “A Matter of Survival” is about domestic abuse. “Nothing to Lose” describes the possibility of death by murder.

A strong first album from an under-appreciated band. The set-opener ‘Gettysburg’ is a major highlight one of their best known songs, and still one of their best. as one of the other reviewers indicates, the music moves between different degrees of rock, with some clear folk influences. Dave Kincaid has always enjoyed playing covers, and on this album their version of Strychnine by the Sonics fits well in the whole set (compare and contrast with the version by the Fall!). However, after eight fairly heavy electric-based songs, it’s somewhat surprising to find that the final track ‘Come Home’ is almost ballad-like.

Track Listing

1. Gettysburg (4:05)
2. A Matter Of Survival (3:33)
3. Nothing To Fear (4:41)
4. Honor Among Thieves (4:34)
5. Strychnine (2:40)
6. Hard Luck Runner (3:46)
7. In My Dreams (4:16)
8. Walking On The Water (4:52)
9. Com Home (2:17)

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