The Breaks Inc. are a band from Queens, NY. Their new album, Hotel Earth, is a concept album about the end of the world. Cutting to the chase, yes, it’s kind of depressing, but it’s also really beautiful, tuneful, and wise — in short, it’s one of the best albums of last year that you never heard.
The Breaks, Inc. have been putting out precociously honest, politically aware tunes for a few years now, and I’m guessing it all started when their ringleader, Danny Marra, began to realize that we were not going to save ourselves after all, and that the proverbial “bumpy ride” was about to begin.
For a clue to their world view, the band introduces itself thusly:
The dystopia seems far away — until it isn’t.
This Hotel Earth wasn’t made for you.
Nor for me.
But all that was yesterday. Here’s today.
Beatle-esque and very much in the spirit of the late Sixties stylistically, Hotel Earth couches desperately sad lyrics in the dreamy imagery and guarded optimism of that era. Today, whatever optimism there may have been has given way to resignation and a sense of mourning for everything we’ve lost and will lose. Being around while everything you love is systematically destroyed is pretty depressing when you allow yourself to think about it. And be advised, this record will make you think about it because its melodic rock romanticism will have you listening to it on repeat…
Danny Marra writes and sings the songs with able backing from the band which includes a vocalist, violin and cello for added pathos.
In any event, I love this album, not just because it’s gorgeous but because it’s true. Sure, I would love to argue with their premise and say that all is not lost, that people can change, but deep down I know that isn’t likely. Not us — we’ll walk right up to the abyss and jump in! Them’s the breaks. Of course, there’s always a chance and hope that we’ll escape this fate, and I hope we do. Otherwise, Hotel Earth is a reminder that we’re going to have to care a lot and do even more if we want to keep living on our endangered little planet.