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What do you get when you hand instruments to a group of L.A. thespians and throw them on a stage? Apparently, you get He’s My Brother She’s My Sister. The five-, sometimes six-piece Los Angeles-based band lit up the Larimer Lounge last Tuesday night, something rather hard to do in a place that averages only 60-80 person crowds and has walls peppered with the battered sticker and poster remnants of hipsters past.
Producing a sound that falls somewhere in between Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes and The Black Keys, and with the stage presence and energy of the Arcade Fire, HMBSMS dares any listener to not be captivated by their infectious sound.
Fronted by singer/guitarist Robert Kolar, who is also a part-time film-noir actor, and (fittingly) his sister, singer Rachel Kolar who is the co-owner of a Los Angeles-based theatre company, the group provides a refreshing energy that can’t help but come through in their music.
The quintet’s roughly hour-long set featured mostly new material that was warm, upbeat and catchy. The leading siblings were backed by Oliver Newell on standup bass, Aaron Robinson on lap guitar and Lauren “Brownie” Brown on drums and tap-dance. You read that right; armed with two floor toms, a cymbal and her own two feet, Brown creates an extremely original sound and an unbelievably captivating and electrifying percussion performance. She provides the backbone of the band’s simple yet driving sound.
The highlight of the night may have been “Electric Love,” originally performed by Robert Kolar’s former band, Lemon Sun. The song oozed energy, featured a beautifully full-bodied electric guitar sound and contained traces of a more American-sounding Arctic Monkeys.
The band closed with their top-rated song on iTunes, “How’m I Gonna Get Back Home Tonight,” which details the thought process at the end of a night of raucous partying. The happy-go-lucky song sounds eerily like it came off of a River City Extension album and brings much needed attention to some striking harmonies between the Kolars’.
The encore choice of “What Goes On,” originally performed by The Velvet Underground, came as a bit of surprise, but made complete sense when they absolutely nailed it.
Keep an eye on these guys to make a splash in the festival scene in the coming years, because with the ridiculously catchy folk-blues-western rock blend they have going on, it seems that only more success and exposure will soon be headed their way.
