He's My Brother She's My Sister

Let’s play a game. Name a band that has dueling siblings as lead vocalists, an affinity for covering David Bowie tracks and uses a tiny tap dancer for background percussion? The answer is an up and coming band that goes by the name He’s My Brother She’s My Sister and their music is something that may just excite you. The band is a six-piece that hails from L.A., so they have a bit of a penchant for the theatrical. Not the least of which is Robert Kolar’s (the male side of the vocals) affinity for Slash style top hats.  As well, in place of a drum kit the band uses a full body percussionist whose tap dancing you can hear on almost every one of the band’s tracks.  

Their sound is similar to that of She and Him, in that, it’s quite mellow with country duet style influences, though it’s more charming than any country song that you may have heard of late.  On their debut EP the band has this amazing rendition of David Bowie’s (sorry Arnold Corns) Moonage Daydream. Their single How'm I Gonna Get Back Home Tonight best illustrates where this band’s strengths are, in playing songs that are both familiar and authentic. The original material on the EP is quite good, but for the Bowie fan, the low key reimagining of this classic piece of 70s glam rock is the sweetest sort of musical treat.

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister also recently opened for Alexander and Fam of Edward Sharpe and the Magentic Zeroes. That should not be much of a surprise because they seem to share the same underlining artistic momentum, that being, a drive to produce music that is both reminiscent of a bygone era but also bringing with it an authentic sense of musical glee. It is fun to play with the medium of music and He’s My Brother She’s My Sister is all about playing. In fact, He’s My Brother She’s My Sister will be performing at Mississippi Studios in the Portland area on June 27^th. 

Handsome Furs | Sound Kapital

The Montreal indie rock duo, Handsome Furs are set to release their third effort on June 28^th of this year called Sound Kapital.  Handsome Furs are more than just a musical duo, the two members Alexei Perry and Dan Boeckner are husband and wife. You can think of them as the Sonny and Cher of the indie electro punk underground. They travel all around the world together performing their music. In fact, the CNN news channel thought that the two of them were interesting enough to be given their very own documentary style web series called “Indie Asia: On Tour with Handsome Furs”.      

The band’s sound has changed, leaning almost entirely on the keyboard portions that accompany Dan Boeckner’s vocals. In their previous album Face Control there was always quite a bit of guitar in each track, but this album feels even more heavily influenced by synth 80s pop than its predecessor.  However, Sound Kapital is anything but pop music. It might have some of the club friendly beats that litter the some backgrounds of tracks like What About Us, but that is where the commercial side of the album comes to a close.  It might be worth mentioning that the album art also reinforces the idea that Sound Kapital is exactly for the musical meat and potatoes of your average yuppie.

For fans of the Handsome Furs, Sound Kapital is a nice throwback to the band’s first album Plague Park. The major difference being that Plague Park was a far more somber album while Sound Kapital is more playful.  The keyboard portions on this album have a pace that could best be described as brisk. Like any Handsome Furs album Sound Kapital will no doubt take time to grow on listeners. In the end though, this new album only adds weight to the growing achievements of this little band from Montreal.

The Coathangers | A Review of Larceny and Old Lace

An all lady Post Punk band from Atlanta Georgia, The Coathangers, will be releasing their latest album called Larceny and Old Lace. The album combines standard punk melodies with a few pleasant variations thrown in for shits and giggles. With a coarse lo-fi style of music, The Coathangers ring every bit of life out of each track that populates the Larceny and Old Lace album.  Filled with lyrics that have both playful and pissy bits the album exudes a certain attitude, one that any good punk album should. The lead off track for the album Hurricane is a fast paced song that belted out on spent vocals accompanied by background vocals provided by the rest of the band.

Each track off of the album is strong in its own right, but the best off of the album are: Trailer Park Boneyard, My Baby and Tobbacco Rd. The only real contemporary of The Coathangers in terms of musical style and all female line up is a band that hails from Toronto Canada called Magneta Lane. So, if you like The Coathangers then you will also appreciate Magneta Lane.