Defeater

The live album is a strange beast, especially these days. With the ability to digitally edit and clean-up performances, such releases are no longer useful as a showcase of an artist's live show. Instead, they offer only slightly different renditions of songs. In the case of Defeater's Live on BBC Radio 1, this is exactly the case — for half of it. Predictable romps through "Warm Blood Rush" and "Empty Glass" do little to differentiate themselves from their recorded counterparts. However, Defeater did grab the opportunity presented by the BBC to slightly modify the other two tracks they performed. Defeater breathe new life into "But Breathing" by slightly speeding it up and adding additional instrumentation. They take the opposite approach on "Brothers," which is stripped down until the end, making the emotions more palpable and powerful. Live on BBC Radio 1 won't convert anyone to the band's dichotomy of melodic hardcore and acoustic ballads, but it will satiate fans.