The Brass Action was a Canadian six-piece independent band from Vancouver, British Columbia. The band played a unique style that mixes the intensity of punk rock and rockabilly with the dancy, horn driven sounds of ska.
History
The Brass Action formed in 2007 in Vancouver, BC, and have since released three independent full-length albums.
The band's first album, entitled Making Waves (2013), was recorded over a three-year period and serves as a compilation of EP albums released during that time. The album was recorded and engineered by Paul Boechler at Fader Mountain Sound and Armoury Studios in Vancouver, BC. Mastering was done by Brock McFarlane at CPS Mastering.[1]
Two songs from their album Making Waves were featured in the 2014 film Horns, starring Daniel Radcliffe.[2] The band performs "The Devil Down Below" live in the film, with Joe Anderson's character playing lead trumpet. Their song "11:34 (Hell O'Clock)" is also used as background music. Singer Ryan Clare has a speaking role in the film.[3]Lakeshore Records released an original soundtrack for Horns, including "The Devil Down Below" with other tracks by David Bowie, The Pixies, The Eels, The Flaming Lips and Marilyn Manson.[4][5]
The Brass Action released their second album, No Soundcheck, in 2015. Their first single off the album, "Moonlite", was released in 2014, and tracks "Nothing to See Here" and "Good Intentions, Wong Direction" were included on subsequent volumes of an, independently released, compilation album series entitled Pacific Sound System. The compilation album series features a collection of bands from the Pacific Northwest region of North America, such as The Dreadnoughts, Easy Big Fella and Los Furios.[6]
The Brass Action's third album, Brouhaha, was released in 2019. Their first single off the album, "Wreckless", was released in 2018, and tracks "It's Not Me, It's You" and "Political Shitposting" were included on a split album, with the Vancouver punk band, Indications, entitled Tall Boys. The Brass Action's track "IDWTKYWMBKL" was included on the third volume of the Pacific Sound System compilation album series. Their track "The Foyer" was included on Punkcouver Volume 3, which is part of a series of compilation albums, released by Vancouver promoter, Rocket from Russia, to highlight prominent bands in the local Vancouver punk scene.
What Do You Know About Ska Punk? Vol. 3, "It's Not Me It's You", WDYKASP, 2019
Punkcouver, Vol 3, "The Foyer", Rocket From Russia, 2019
Videography
Films
Horns includes a live performance of the song "Devil Down Below" and background use of the song "11:34 (Hell O'clock)" from the album Making Waves. Singer Ryan Clare has a speaking role.
