Fake Laugh on Broadcast

“You’ll love them” they said - and they were right. I fell in love with their music almost instantly as far as I can remember, for reasons I will try to explain with probable difficulty; because the mystery of their music is one that words struggle to describe.

I recently listened to Jerkcurb’s Rough Trade radio show and he commented on the timelessness of Broadcast’s music, which as he mentioned is perhaps what is most outstanding about their music. On records such as The Noise Made By People and Haha Sound you really do feel as though you could be listening to something that could have been created in either 1967 or 2027. While the spooky synths and rolling drums are indebted somewhat to the sort of bands found on the Nuggets compilations, there is something in the atmosphere that Broadcast create which allows them to evade a particular sense of time or context. That something may well be the beautiful vocal of the tragically deceased Trish Keenan. Her voice is so pure, its lack of affectation being what makes it stand out. Her delivery veers perfectly close to sounding disinterested, haunting melodies and lyrics floating amongst the lush instrumentation of the band.

2005’s Tender Buttons was the first Broadcast record I heard and is perhaps still my favourite. I suppose it was a bit of a departure from their previous work, mainly because of the frequent use of these gnarly, distorted sawtooth synths which cut very deeply, especially on tracks like "Corporeal" and "Goodbye Girls". While the album is very sonically consistent, it’s such a versatile record and has a wide emotional range. Trish Keenan is so good at balancing her lyrical style between the personal and abstract, which I really admire and aspire to. I think one of the things that makes Broadcast so great is how they can have these playful and jammy moments on their albums and then just hit you with a gut-wrenching ballad like "Tears In The Typing Pool". I once covered this song when I was feeling quite sad at 6am one morning and it definitely helped.

I think in addition to their sound being timeless, there is also an effortlessness to their music. To an extent, Broadcast have taught me that you can make really interesting music without being obtuse and overtly ‘weird’. There are undoubtedly many odd moments in their records but it never feels contrived. I happened to be introduced to Broadcast around the time that I started Fake Laugh, which is a project I suppose I started with the intention of making more relaxed music. I think they were a great band to get into at this time, because they write accessible and melodic pop-songs but are still very much left-of-centre, so to speak.

I don’t think I have quite heard all of Broadcast’s releases, which is probably a bit shameful considering how much I claim to love them. However, I am glad that I still have some discovering to do. When asked to write about something that I’m interested in or have been inspired by, I struggled but then realized I may as well write about a band that I don’t shut up about anyway. Also, as I finish writing this I’m listening to a mix Trish Keenan made called ‘Trish’s Mind Bending Motorway Mix’ which is unsurprisingly amazing, so check that out too.