"Brace! Brace!" Frequent flyers will know this security announcement all too well: it is played in the event of an emergency landing and advises passengers to cover their heads with their arms to prevent a potentially lethal concussion. How ironic then, that the band of the same name almost crashed and burned when Antoine Magnien vanished into thin air, just after recording the second EP of what was, back then, a garage-noise duet created in Lyon in 2013, made up of two guitars and a drum machine. The only one left on board, Thibault Picot – also a member of Good Morning TV – turned things around with the help of Barth Bouveret, who had already produced Brace Brace’s Worries EP (Freemount Records, 2014). Whilst in Paris, he took on a new crew: Cyril Angleys on the guitar, Antoine Barbier playing the bass and Simon Lapillone - from the band Avions – on the drums. The band is now ready for take off, under the wing of both Teenage Hate (Décibelles, The Hi-Lites…) and Howlin Banana Records (The Madcaps, Kaviar Special, Sapin…). Fluctuating between the fuzzy fragmented garage powering through Ty Segall’s work (Slow), and a Mac Demarco-like laid-back psychedelic sound (It’s Okay), Brace! Brace! builds – aerial – bridges between the cardinal points of contemporary electric music. A combination of perfectionism and daring pop that brings to mind one of their main influence: Blur, and its Graham Coxon era. Turning their quirks into a signature move, Controlled Weirdness is the title of this new album, unveiling a sharp songwriting, although sometimes shaken by healthy turbulences. Upon landing, as frequent flyers know, there’s only one thing left to do: applaud! — Benjamin Mialot