In 2003, amid New York City’s post-punk revival, the Bravery coalesced, pulling equal inspiration from dance music and stylish indie rock. Sam Endicott handled vocals and guitar, John Conway played keyboards, Anthony Burulcich sat behind the drums, Michael Zakarin covered guitar, and Mike H. anchored bass. The project began early that year, years after Conway and Endicott—Vassar College classmates who had once belonged to the Pasties—performed together in the collegiate ska group Skabba the Hut. Once the pair settled in the Big Apple, they assembled the rest of the lineup and launched into stylish dance rock. An opening night at Brooklyn’s Stinger Club led to a residency at Arlene’s Grocery, and street-level buzz soon translated into recording contracts with Island Def Jam in the States and Loog in the U.K.
Early 2005 brought the Unconditional EP, which drew immediate critical attention: the Village Voice labeled the Bravery “New York’s Official Next Big Thing,” while MTV and Rolling Stone both flagged them as an artist to watch. A co-headlining run with Ash that spring accompanied the release of the band’s self-titled debut album, whose moderately successful singles included “An Honest Mistake” and “Unconditional.” After further touring, the group retreated to the studio with producer Brendan O’Brien, whose résumé includes Rage Against the Machine and Neil Young. Splitting time between Atlanta and N.Y.C., they emerged in May 2007 with The Sun and the Moon, an album that introduced richer textures and additional instrumentation. For 2009’s Stir the Blood they revisited the new wave-tinged approach of their first record, again working with producer John Hill. While Hill was simultaneously collaborating with Shakira, he offered her a song he and Endicott had written that became her hit single “She Wolf.”
