Viva Brother

Viva Brother are an English rock band from Slough, England. Previously known as Brother, they signed to Geffen Records in October and EMI Publishing in November 2010. Their debut album, Famous First Words, was released on 1 August 2011, and reached #34 on the UK Albums Chart. It was confirmed on 1 April 2012 that Viva Brother had split up. In June 2012, the band members launched a new band, the synthpop group Lovelife. Viva Brother uploaded a cryptic video to their social media platforms on 22 September 2017, hinting at an announcement on 3 October. The band confirmed they were reuniting on 3 October, with their first show to be played at The Garage, in London, on 30 November.

Viva Brother
Origin	Slough, England
Genres	Indie rock,[1][2] Britpop revival[3]
Years active	2010–12, 2017–present
Labels	Geffen
Associated acts	Lovelife
Website	www.vivabrother.com
Members	Leonard Newell Joshua Ward Samuel Jackson Franklin Colucci

History

Formation and debut album (2010–2012)

Previously known as Kill the Arcade and Wolf Am I, the band was renamed Brother in 2010.[4] The previous incarnation of the group wrote, recorded and performed music primarily in the emo genre.[5][6] Describing their latest sound as Gritpop, and citing bands such as Blur, The Smiths, and Morrissey as influences, the band began playing shows around the local community centres. In an interview for drowned in sound, Leonard Newell stated that his musical interest began to change after he started going to a club night called We love the 90's.[7] A demo of the song "Darling Buds of May" was played by radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1. Lowe also picked up on the band's blog. The site featured a video of the band setting up and playing an unannounced gig in front of Slough railway station, along with a promo video they had shot using money they had earned playing local gigs.[8] In October they signed a deal with Geffen Records and EMI Publishing the following November.[9]

In January 2011, Brother entered the studio with Stephen Street to record their debut album.[10] On 5 March, the band appeared on the early morning football show Soccer AM, and revealed the name for their album would be Famous First Words, after discussing it in the canteen just half an hour before the interview. They released their debut single, "Darling Buds of May", on 27 June 2011. This was followed by three more singles, "New Year's Day", released 8 May 2011, and "", released 27 June 2011. In June 2011, the band was forced to change their name from Brother to Viva Brother due to a lawsuit brought by another band, also called Brother. Leonard Newell admitted that his band went ahead with the previous name change from Wolf Am I to Brother despite being aware of the fact that other musicians were already using the name.[11]

Viva Brother released their debut album, Famous First Words, on 1 August 2011. The album, panned by critics for its lack of original content, peaked at #34 on the UK Albums Chart in its first week of release. On 3 October 2011, the band released their final single from Famous First Words, "Time Machine".

Second album and breakup (2012–2016)

The band released images of the recording their second album in the countryside on their official Twitter page, with hopes of the album being released that year. It was announced on 1 April 2012 that the band had split up, although this was initially thought to be an April fools joke - the disbanding of Viva Brother was confirmed later that day. Viva Brother reformed as pop group Lovelife consisting of Newell, Jackson, Colucci and Ally Young, formerly of band 'Mirrors'.

Reunion (2017–present)

Viva Brother uploaded a cryptic video to their social media platforms on 22 September 2017, hinting at an announcement on 3 October. [12] The band confirmed they were reuniting on 3 October, with their first show to be played at The Garage, in London, on 30 November. The band also released a brand new track, Bastardo, via Spotify. [13]

Legacy

Viva Brother are considered by the British press as the first band of "Britpop revival".[14][3]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		UK [15]	JPN [16]
Famous First Words	Released: 1 August 2011 Label: Geffen Formats: CD, DL, LP	34	46
II	Released: 17 November 2017 Label: Pretty Formats: CD, DL	—	—

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions	Album
		US Alt[17]
2011	"Darling Buds of May"	39	Famous First Words
	"Still Here"	—
	"New Year's Day"	—
	"Time Machine"	—
2017	"Bastardo"	—	II
	"Womankind"	—
	"I Don't Wanna Be Loved"	—
"—" denotes that the single did not chart.

References

1. "Alt-J Live: Letting the Music Speak for Itself". 4 November 2014.
2. "We talk to Lovelife's Lee Newell before the UK/NYC band plays Toronto". 10 May 2013.
3. "Rhythm Hot Band: The Kayas".
4. "Radar Band Of The Week". Nme.Com. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
5. "Oh Brother! New band Brother are dividing opinion – what do you think?". Louder than War. 12 January 2011.
6. "Viva Brother: Famous First Words - review". The Guardian. 28 July 2011.
7. "Drowned in Sound interview". drownedinsound.com. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
8. "Brother: Video". acidlove.net. 1 September 2010.
9. "Signings signal EMI's return to rock". musicweek.com. 22 November 2010.
10. "Stephen Street". Metro.Co.uk. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
11. "Name change". Nme.Com. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
12. "Viva Brother return". www.facebook.com/VivaBrother. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
13. "Viva Brother return". www.twitter.com/VivaBrother. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
14. Lester, Paul (5 October 2010). "New band of the day – No 880: Brother". The Guardian.
15. "Cher Lloyd's 'Swagger Jagger' goes straight to Number One | News". Nme.Com. 7 August 2011. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
16. "ビバ・ブラザー-リリース-ORICON STYLE ミュージック". Oricon.co.jp. 22 February 1999. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
17. "Viva Brother Chart History: Alternative Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 18 January 2020.

External links

• Official website