'Viva' Brother? // Apparently not, thanks to NME.

Yesterday Viva Brother officially announced they were splitting up - perhaps announcing this on April Fools' Day wasn't the best idea, as many fans didn't believe it, with many being over the moon. I contacted their manager who replied in his own words to my question if they had split up with "Tis true" (I know what you're thinking, how lazy). He also confirmed this once promising band had already finished their second album. Whilst many thought this band were the next Oasis, the next big band for NME to launch into the limelight, they just never made the cut, with a poorly received debut album and abusive comment after abusive comment about their 'copy cat' style of music.



They formed in late 2010 and signed to EMI in November of that year. Things looked up for them in 2011, with NME running several articles about their singles and covering one of their tours. However, they later came back to bite them. In what would probably be their last every tweet, Viva Brother wrote "And as for NME. Shame on you.". So how did this comment came to be and why did it end so badly for such a 'promising' band? In their first NME appearance they were proclaimed as band of the week in late October of 2010, with every sign of making it big. The band boasted "people might think we’re arrogant, but it’s just belief. We know how amazing we are." and NME gave them their shot at the lime light, with their stamp of approval, as did many other blogs and music magazines.

But things didn't last for long. Once the album was finally released in August 2011, after being forced to change their name from Brother to Viva Brother due to a legal battle, their career slowly started to go downhill. It was poorly received, and music fans agreed. Whilst the music wasn't atrocious, it was blatant in it's rip-off nature of Oasis and other britpop bands. The NME gave the album a 5/10 slating it as formulaic and that other bands are just "writing better songs."

Then the NME awards of 2012. They were nominated for Worst Band of the year. That is some feat, from going from the 'next big thing' to the 'current worst thing'. With 170,000 less views than another NME hype band, Tribes, who have been around for a similar time, the magazine clearly can have a massive influence. But the need of good music is also still a requirement in today's music, no matter what.

Their last song to be recorded was posted on YouTube yesterday following the announcement. Annoyingly, it doesn't sound that bad, aside from the cliched and not really thought through lyrics ("I don't want to be loved, but I need to be loved.") You can view the song below:

Viva Brother have every right to be annoyed at NME for them building them up before letting them down with a heavy thud - now, who's next to fall off the hype train?