Hey friends,
We were thrilled to find our first EP review had gone live this morning over at Merlin's Music Box, a music blog based down in Athens, Greece. You can have a look at the article right here.
And there's an English Google translation copied below.
This one is particularly cool because you can tell the reviewer has actually listened to the tracks and understood the story of the band. Pretty much every single other piece of journalism we've had to date has not been as careful, re-printing press releases, and getting AI to churn out some meaningless words. Fairly depressing when you've been trying to make it work for this long... This one, however, is the real deal. Have a read!
You can also listen to our new single Collide exclusively here, a full 5 weeks pre-release, but, if you might be so kind, you will have to swap the listen for your email address so we can send you news, first looks/listens etc. We promise we won't ever spam you, you'll be lucky to get an email a month, if that. But hopefully, if you've read this far, you're interested enough to want to know what we're up to and will be happy to give it a go! As social media posts become ever more meaningless, we believe email contact gives us the best chance of actually reaching your eyes, and more importantly, your ears.
Anyways, that's all for now. I need to do a lot more blog posts… I will try and return to one post a week, even if it has nothing to do with music. Let's see how we go!
Best wishes,
Sam & TMB x
Sam Brace & The Merciless Bronze - Back to the Pulse of Rock 'n' Roll (EP Review)
Published: Wednesday, 21 May 2025 10:37
Written by Christos Kornarakis
Some artists, even after a decade of folk-punk storms and international festival beer, still hear inside them the old sound that shaped them. Sam Brace - previously known as the guitar engine of Skinny Lister - returns, not just with a solo effort, but with a confessional confrontation with his roots. His new EP, a 10-inch vinyl release titled Sam Brace & The Merciless Bronze, is not just rock’n’roll - it’s a letter back to himself.
From the sea to the basement
The EP's four compositions - "We Go High", "Collide", "Diesel" and "Graceless" - leave behind the drunken romanticism of sea shanties and dive into a more modern, guitar-driven sound, with clear references to '90s alternative rock but also to British glam/post-Britpop energy. It's like watching Suede write in the manner of Longpigs or Ash during their Free All Angels era, but without a trace of nostalgia - only necessity.
The opening "We Go High" is a stadium-sized track that surprisingly retains its British sensibility - breathing guitars, choruses that seem to have been written with the thought "if I'm going to come back, let's do it in style". The production - which bears Brace's own signature - keeps the tension alive without sterilizing it, something that rarely succeeds from someone who decides to do everything himself.
From illness to rebirth
The second track, "Collide", feels like a diary of internal conflict. The lyrics, without becoming melodramatic, have the honesty of someone who has gone "through his body" to return to music. Brace's move to Thessaloniki - an almost existential movement - has left its mark: a low light beneath the surface, something Balkan without being traditional, like a sadness in a summer courtyard.
"Diesel" is the most "driving" track. A power track that could accompany the scenes of Drive if Nicolas Winding Refn wanted less synth and more guitar bending. Andy Charalanis' bassline is literally "machine" - you hear the road rolling, while Kapitanidis' guitars bring something from the early days of the Editors or even the Doves.
The EP’s most personal track comes at the end: “Graceless” – with its heartbreaking melody and Brace’s almost stripped-down performance – feels like a letter that was never sent. Here he sounds less like a frontman and more like an observer of his own life. It’s this track that makes you understand why this record is not just a new beginning but also a reckoning.
Rock without a costume
The band – The Merciless Bronze – doesn’t function as a backing band, but as an organic extension of Brace himself. The chemistry with Adam Tarry, the years-long collaboration reborn in the midst of the pandemic, is evident in every line – these are not session musicians, but friends who carry shared teenage riffs and now transform them into something substantial.
It’s no small feat to start over in your 40s. It’s even harder to sound convincing. Sam Brace does it because he doesn't pretend. He doesn't create a new self. Instead, he's shedding the vest-wearing he once was and taking to the stage in leather again, but this time for the right reason: because he has something to say.
Sam Brace's new EP is a triumphant comeback full of depth, energy and honesty. A great reminder that sometimes, rock'n'roll awaits you on the other side of the storm. It's available digitally and on 10-inch vinyl (under the general title "Collide") via bandcamp and the band's official website, where his previous work can also be found.
Sam Brace & The Merciless Bronze are:
Sam Brace (Vox, Guitars, Synths)
Andy Charalanis (Bass)
Vasilis Kapitanidis (Guitars)
Lia Amprikidou (Drums)
Adam Tarry (Guitars, Drums, BV's)