I met Will about a year ago at a gig in France when he did a duo performance before us which didn't really convince me I must admit. After one or two songs I went backstage to concentrate on my pre show beer.
When he gave me this album afterwards and offering himself to join my band as bass player, I didn't expect anything. But surprise, surprise, what I heard was great songwriting, big arrangement talent and the right dose of "having an own way of musical expression".
No need to say Will is in our band since then and hopefully will be for a long time.
cheers&beers
tim beam, july 08
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Branderson is a guitar pop band in Switzerland. 
Their melodies remind us of the Vaselines, 
Bmx Bandits, and Aztec Camera, as well as 
a general Glaswegian atmosphere. 
The album portrays all of the sadness in the universe, with melancholic vocals and delicate acoustic guitars.  Furthermore, due to the beautiful and melancholic 
melodies exhibiting fantastic harmonies, 
emotions are feverishly drawn forth. 
Although I can't say their performance is professional enough, the performance is especially tender, and the particularly sharp guitar, bass, and drum sounds 
shoot in the hearts of their listeners. 
"Several Years Ago" consists of eleven songs 
which don't bore because of the variety of 
song styles.  The CD jacket illustrations 
represent their view of the universe.
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ヴァセリンズやBMXバンディッツ、さらにアズテックカメラな
どグラスゴー周辺の空気をほうふつさせるスイスのギターポッ
プバンド。世の中のすべての悲しみを吐き出すようなメランコ
リックなボーカルと、アコースティック・ギターの繊細な響き
、美しく感傷的な旋律が織り重なって極上のハーモニーを奏で
、熱病のような感情を呼び覚ます。決してうまいとは言えない
演奏だが、特に優しく、特に鋭く心に響く轟音ギターが、ベー
スが、ドラムが、聴き手の感情をえぐる。全11曲ながら一辺倒
にならずバラエティに富んだ1枚。ジャケットの何気ないイラ
ストも彼らの世界観を言い表している。
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Will asked me to write a review of his album. I told
him that I only know two music-journo words: Seminal
and Anthemic, so you will probably find endless
repetition of those two words in this seminal and
anthemic album review. I’ve known Will for many years
and we have busked together on the streets of Bristol,
Berlin, Zurich and Nimes. Thus I was delighted when I
heard that he was making an album as I have been
privileged to experience at first hand the development
of many of these songs over the years. I was kind of
disappointed that he didn’t ask me to be involved with
any of the recording or production. Perhaps it is due
to my lack of knowledge about the world of recording
but to be honest I’m still mystified as to why my
offer to be Best Boy, Gaffer and 3rd Stunt Kazoo was
never taken up.

I love the retro sound quality and minimalist
production values on this album. At first I thought
Branderson were just cheapskates with no budget until
Will told me that to capture this authentic retro feel
the technology required and the massive design team
hired caused production costs, as Will puts it, “to
spiral to the kind of levels needed to buy a small
Duchy in Lichtenstein” (Like, yeah, hello?
Lichtenstein is so small that small Duchies are all
that’s available – duh! Now if he had said a large
Duchy in Lichtenstein now that would have impressed
me. To buy a large Duchy in Lichtenstein would require
him to annex at least one Swiss Canton and half a
dozen Austrian mountains, a declaration of war and
sanctions from all of the permanent members of the UN
Security Council. Hah! You’ll have to try harder to
impress me, my friend). Will had a nightmarish time
organising the design team. It took them six weeks
just to work out how the coffee machine worked and
another seventeen weeks to work out what shape the CD
should be (Yeah, – flat). Now he is saddled with debt.
Last week, Will told me, he was forced to rob the
takings of the busker that plays accordion under Brugg
Hauptbahnhof just to avoid defaulting on the interest
on his album loans. You must buy this CD even if only
to help stamp out spiralling crime in Brugg!

Despite the oppressive stress and pressure required to
finance this album, plus the need at one point for
Will to pawn seven of his fingers for a bridging loan
(for the bridge in Sunday In Spring) I do find myself
not just impressed by this album but truly moved to
new levels of sensory perception. It was while
listening to this album that I experienced
synesthesia. For those of you that don’t know,
Synesthesia is a condition where sounds also trigger
the perception of colours and in very rare cases also
tastes and smells. I had read of this phenomenon but
never expected to experience it until Several Years
Ago. I was sat down listening to All Work No Play and
as the pulsating rhythms and syncopations built and as
the pounding bass drummed a staccato and the chanting
lyrics and angelic voices of the choir induced me into
a trance like state I began to sweat and then I felt
my body spasm. Suddenly a flood of virulent sensations
swept over me: guttural sounds, pungent smells, a
kaleidoscope of colours and I thought, “That’s the
last time I ever review a Branderson album after
sixteen pints of beer and a Vindaloo curry with extra
chilli.”

Seriously though, the unrefined qualities of the
recording do give the CD a very live and authentic
feel. When I play this CD, and especially my favourite
track – So What – it really does sound like Will is in
the room playing for me. What you might not know is
that despite outstanding dexterity on the fretboard,
Will is in fact the clumsiest man on Earth. To get a
truly authentic live performance sound whilst playing
the track I occasionally bang my acoustic guitar
against the walls of my apartment, smash beer bottles
on the floor and intermittently cry out, “Sorry!” “Uh,
got any Band-Aids?” and “Was that really a genuine
Ming vase?”
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