Album Review: False Advertising – 'Brainfreeze'

Brainfreeze will thaw your brain out. 

False Advertising’s debut album is a great alternative record. It exhibits all the features that you love about the genre – big riffs, big choruses, incredible hooks, and intelligent use of the quiet/loud dynamic that all come into making epic rock songs. Of course, this is no copycat of an album. False Advertising have made the sound their own and created a wonderful piece of work.

Brainfreeze is about “those feelings of being trapped or that your decisions aren’t your own.” And it’s here in the lyrical subjects that set False Advertising apart from their contemporaries. For instance, lead single and album opener ‘Influenza’ sounds like a classic grunge banger with the monstrous riffs and title, it deals with a family bereavement. ‘So Long’ is Jen’s therapeutic way pf dealing with the death of her mother and it is an epic song to finish the album with, very Smashing Pumpkins. False Advertising are able to write and tackle about personal issues that everyone faces.

But the band have a few politically charged songs. ‘We’ve Heard This All Before’ is about leaders who lead for the wrong reasons, and ‘At the Top’ confronts the smoke and mirrors of media. The riffs in these songs conjure up a shared feeling of anger between band and listener, such as in ‘Personal Gain’ as they call out the elitist. 

False Advertising can write brilliant songs from personal experience that will connect with any listener. Surely that is the mark of great song writing? 

Words by Matthew Brocklehurst

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False Advertising Live Dates
Nov 9th - Fairfield Social Club, Manchester
Nov 10th - Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham
Nov 11th - Head Of Steam, Newcastle
Nov 12th - Phase One, Liverpool
Nov 13th - Key Club, Leeds
Nov 14th - King Tuts, Glasgow
Nov 16th - The Big Top, Cardiff
Nov 17th - Crofters Rights, Bristol
Nov 18th - The Black Heart, London
Nov 19th - The Prince Albert, Brighton
Nov 20th - The Forum, Tunbridge Wells