The Bravery is an American rock band from New York City that consists of Sam Endicott (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Zakarin (lead guitar [also known as Moose], backing vocals), John Conway (keyboards, backing vocals), Mike Hindert (bass, backing vocals), and Anthony Burulcich (drums, backing vocals). Their music is a synthesis of both post-punk revival and New Wave.
US modern rock radio stations received the CD pro for The Bravery’s first single "Time Won't Let Me Go" the same week as the band played in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and the SXSW festival. The single reached the Alternative Top Ten Hit in America.
On May 22, 2007, The Bravery’s second album The Sun and the Moon was released, debuting at number 24 on the US album charts. Endicott describes the new album as a departure from the synth-heavy sound of their debut. The cover and artwork are candid photographs taken by Jo McCaughey and Drew King. Sam Endicott and art designer Andy West, took a newsprint/collage approach to the layout of the album. The Bravery's second single "Believe" reached number 4 on the US Alternative Charts in April 2008, eleven months after the original release of the album. "Believe" stayed at number 4 for six weeks, becoming the band's biggest radio hit to date.
Two weeks before the release, The Bravery played a number of special shows in New York City, including two secret shows on May 8 at Arlene's Grocery, the very club that the band credits as the club where they were discovered. The Bravery toured extensively in the US, headlining dates until June. The band headed to Europe on their own headlining tour, stopping to play in Oxegen and T in the Park festivals. Between July and September, The Bravery supported Incubus on their outdoor amphitheatre summer tour. The band then supported The Smashing Pumpkins on their US theatre tour. In October, The Bravery headed to Mexico where they played Motorkr Festival in Mexico City. They finished 2007 headlining more dates in the US.
iTunes announced The Bravery as the first artist ever to pre-release a different song every week prior to the album release. On February 19, 2008, the first single, a rerecording of "Believe" debuted on iTunes. A song a week followed: "This Is Not the End" was released on February 26, "Bad Sun" on March 4 and "The Ocean" on March 11.
While on the road, The Bravery continued working on "The Moon" recording on the back of their tour bus, in hotels and dressing rooms. In December 2007, The Bravery headed back into their New York City home studios to finish up their more raw and electronic version of the songs. In January 2008, The band announced the new release of The Sun and the Moon Complete, a two-disc set featuring "The Sun" (the original Brendan O’Brien produced 12 songs) and "The Moon" (the same exact 12 songs, in the same order, but re-imagined and re-worked by the band). The Sun and the Moon Complete was released on March 18, 2008. A new album cover and packaging accompany the two-disc set. The Bravery's single "Believe" reached number four on the Modern Rock Charts during the week of April 13, 2008. It is the highest chart position for the band in the United States. "Believe" stayed at number 4 for six weeks.
After a disagreement with the band's UK label, The Sun and The Moon was never released in the UK. Endicott addressed the issue for the first time in public during a feature in the November 4, 2009 issue of the NME. "The big thing was the BBC counted us as the best new band of the year and at that point our label lost its shit. We got off a plane in London and there were billboards of us on the highway. Suddenly we weren't this indie band, we were the Spice Girls!" The band has since been in a legal battle with their UK label over the rights of The Sun and The Moon and the band's future releases.
