I see many bands, but rarely do I see bands this happy to play, producing so much enthusiasm and exhilarating rhythms. He’s my Brother She’s my Sister have a Monday residency at the Satellite this month and I decided to check them out (hey it’s free!) without knowing anything about them, and did I have a good idea!
Their music is jubilant, folk-rock-blues-alt-country (well they use a slide guitar played by Aaron Robinson), and they build a seducing stage presence with a lot of female-male harmonies, a large bass played by Oliver Newell of The Pleasure Circus, and this curious attraction, a standing drummer, Lauren Brown as a cute tap dancer at the top of a large drum, who gives even more rhythms and drumbeats to their optimistic tunes.
Rob and Rachel Kolar are really brother and sister and their talents go beyond the singer-musician persona, they are real entertainers, asking people to come in costumes, talking and joking, inviting on stage a girl dressed up as a rose bud, and their burlesque show makes people basically happy.
Rachel in a long red dress was dancing jumping around, all smile and all laugh, whereas there were more and more musicians on stage for each song, calling people from the previous band Sweaters, or asking ‘a good friend’, Harper Simon, to join them on stage for two songs, the bluesy-countrish ‘Lazy Daze', a lazy ballad, that started slowly with its psychedelic errands, and ended into an exuberant Hey-Jude-esque chorus making everyone joyous; just after they did a bluesy-jubilant Beatles cover ‘I’ve just seen your face’, and it was not a coincidence.
There was a little bit of everything, a rock-bluesy, feet-tapping, chorus sing-along ‘Coattails’, with even some almost-Rolling-Stones accents, ‘How’m I Gonna Get Back Home’ had some joyous Beatles-esque parts, ‘Lazy Daze’ had a little of the Mamas and the Papas, ‘Clackin’ Heels’ sounded like an upbeat country foot-stomping song sung by pioneers, ‘Tales That I Tell’ was a real sing-along, and there was even a Lemon Sun’s cover, ‘Same Old Ground’. I can say that all their melodies were memorable, catchy, and eclectic enough to keep you really interested till the end. You know the feeling, songs you’ve never heard but that are immediately in your head, ..magical!
Go see them, it’s a lot of fun and they will bring their awesomeness every Monday at the Satellite in May