Some bands rely so heavily on poignant lyricism, it makes you wonder whether poetry or music is its root intent. The art rock musings of The Braids are unmistakably musical at heart, with lyrics seemingly stemming naturally out of melodious background rhythm. Would this album be a success without a single accompanying written word sung aloud? The bet hear is yes, but not to take away from the lyrics themselves, which are both thought-provoking in nature with impressive vocals complementary in sound.Only 7 songs long, Native Speaker‘s songs are a collection of calculated musical marathons rather than sprints, with tracks nearing the 9 minute mark and none shorter than 4 minutes and 25 seconds. Were we to offer a single criticism to The Braids second release, perhaps a minute here and there could be shaved in the spirit of time-saving, while still accomplishing a song’s objective. However, if left to choose between tossing out cookie cutter tracks for the sake of volume alone or Native Speaker as it stands, we would unquestionably opt for the 7 thoroughly developed, albeit longer, songs. (more…)