The Bravery hail from New York City and consist of frontman and songwriter Sam Endicott, keyboardist John Conway, drummer Anthony Burulcich, guitarist Michael Zakarin, and bassist Mike Hindert. Endicott and Conway were classmates at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY in the late 1990s, and played local bars in mock-ska band Skabba the Hut (which also included “CSI: Miami” star Jonathan Togo). The duo went on to play together in numerous bands and recording projects, including new wave outfit Conquistador. Upon moving to NYC, Zakarin joined after answering an advert in a local paper, and brought Hindert with him, who was a classmate from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. The line up was completed by Burilcich when he was introduced to Endicott by mutual friends in NY band Bishop Allen.

The Bravery self promoted themselves by handing out CDs (containing the songs “An Honest Mistake”, “No Brakes” and “Public Service Announcement”) and putting up posters in Manhattan and Brooklyn. They also used the internet for promotion, and were one of the first bands on MySpace to have a profile. After a few months of headlining and selling out small clubs, The Bravery booked a residency at the Lower East side club Arlene’s Grocery, attracting the attention of many record labels, and also receiving their first radio airplay (on Boston station WFNX). In August 2004 The Bravery signed to Island Def Jam in the US and Loog Records in the UK, and a few months later they moved to Stoke Newington, London, with Loog Records releasing “Unconditional”, a limited edition 3 song EP on CD and 12” vinyl, containing “Unconditional”, “No Brakes” and “Out Of Line”, with the cover was taken from New York artist C. Finley’s oil on canvas named “Colab”.

The Bravery’s first single, "An Honest Mistake", was released in the UK in February 2005, debuting at number 7 on the UK Singles chart, and reaching number 12 on the US Modern Rock Chart. Debut album ”The Bravery” was released in the following month, with C. Finley’s painting “Phoenix” used as cover art (the first 10,000 copies in the UK were made with a silver foil cover and a black embossed Phoenix). It climbed as high as number 5 on the UK Album charts, and made the Top 20 in the US (reaching number 18). Second single "Fearless" was released in the UK in May 2005, with C. Finley’s artwork employed again for the cover, this time a piece entitled "Lady With A Blunt" was used. "Unconditional", the third single, released in the UK in August 2005, had it’s B-side containing a Benny Benassi dance remix of “Unconditional”, and its cover art an acrylic and graphite drawing on paper by, yes, you’ve guessed it, C. Finley, called “Phoenix Girl”. The single made number 5 in the UK Dance chart.

In June 2006, The Bravery moved to Atlanta to work with producer Brendan O’Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Neil Young, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Velvet Revolver). The original concept of their sophomore album was to show the 2 sides of the band - one being “The Sun”, a more organic approach to production using acoustic instruments, and the other being “The Moon”, a do it yourself indie dance production, reminiscent of their debut. The idea was to release 2 discs of the exact same songs done in different ways, "The Sun" and "The Moon." The songs for the "Sun" portion were finished and mastered by November 2006, with first single "Time Won't Let Me Go" reaching the alternative Top 10 in the US. May 2007 saw the release of second album, “The Sun and the Moon”, which debuted at number 24 on the US Album chart, however The Bravery continued working on the songs which formed part of "The Moon", and in January 2008, “The Sun and the Moon Complete” was released, a 2 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). Second single "Believe" reached number 4 on the US Alternative chart in April 2008, staying there for 6 weeks.