Brave Saint Saturn

In the shadow of Five Iron Frenzy, Brave Saint Saturn seemed a quaint, tuneful distraction. With the former now laid to rest, the music of these former FIF cohorts can be assessed on its own merit. To that end, Brave Saint Saturn proves to be a viable entity on this seventeen-track release. Sounding notably more mature than the act's past two efforts, Anti-Meridian finds Reese Roper displaying unflinching honesty as he reflects on his time fronting FIF ("Mercenary") and grapples with feeling compassion for a dying bird and then years later taking aim at such helpless creatures ("Starling"). Elsewhere, on tracks like "Underground," Dennis Culp, who shares songwriting and vocal duties, delivers biting lines like "Propaganda can make truth sound like fiction." Admirable bravery, to be sure.