Last time we heard new music from Braid’s Chris Broach, it was with his electronic pop project SNST, but now he’s returning to the guitar and his own name for a series of singles and splits with a variety of bands and labels. “It’s a different approach to how I’ve done it in the past where I’ll write a whole album and figure out the details in the studio and at home in bits and pieces at a time,” he says, “Instead, I’m focusing on writing from the guitar – working on each song until it’s finished, delivering it, completely finished, to a label, and then starting the next one.”
The first single in the series is “Rock Has A Shelf Life,” a loud, jagged, shouty rock song that echoes Chris’ contributions to Braid but gives his songwriting a little more of a post-punk edge. Chris handled all the vocals, guitars, bass, production, engineering, and mixing himself, and it features drums by Steve Pahl. It officially comes out Friday (3/22) via New Granada Records/Sweet Cheetah Records, but it premieres early in this post. It’s a ripper and you can hear it below.
Next up, Chris will release a split 7″ with The 1984 Draft on May 10 via Poptek Records/Sweet Cheetah Records.
Meanwhile, Braid are bringing their Frame & Canvas 25th anniversary tour to Tokyo this month, and playing Las Vegas’ new Best Friends Forever fest in the fall. Chris and Bob Nanna reflected on the classic album on the BrooklynVegan podcast last year, and you can listen to that episode below or wherever you listen to podcasts.
