My Brother and I
Hotel Café
3/05/16
These guys are the soundtrack to your date night – grab your significant other, get dinner, and check these guys out. My Brothers and I bring a non-threatening mix of pop, soul, and touch of R&B, in an upbeat, punchy package that will certainly deliver on their promise that their music is for music fans and by music fans. While you may also be witness to the humble beginnings of a group on their way up, don’t expect the polished dynamics of seasoned veterans – these boys are still getting their sea legs.
Brothers David, Erik, and Scott Wurgler hit the road with friends Jordan Roach and Johnny Iliyn next week for a short tour down the coast. A relatively new band, hard to find much about the group prior to last October, the gents are hitting the road to continue to promote the official debut release Don’t Dream Alone. While the release has been out for a few months, the band has been sticking local and sporadically venturing out, but not too far.
The music is a bit all over the place. They have a healthy spattering of 60’s Motown, some solid pop, and then some random tinges of other genres in there. Dabbling in many genres makes for a fun evening -people that have never heard the band will be intrigued to hear what they’ll play next; but, if you like a song, you may not hear another like it. With the cost of recording going down, and digital access, a lot of bands seem to record whatever they can and try to rush it out. While the songs on this album seem to have a lot of production and work in them, one wonders if the pre-production/development work was done, or if this is what we’ll see on the road. While the band is technically proficient, it’s a bit difficult to not notice that David sounds like a young man phoning it in. He can sing, but I don’t hear a lot of personal connection to what he’s singing. One can assume he listens to a lot of Motown and genuinely wants to incorporate the sound into his music. But one has to connect to the feeling, and young David seems to be focusing on technique over substance.
All that being said, they really are talented musicians, and worth a shot. They aren’t a “Gotta buy their merch” band, or one that you’ll rush home to find a back catalog (there isn’t one), but you will have a genuinely good time. The bands’ collective energy and charm shine on stage, and (as previously stated) the music isn’t bad – it’s just not focused.
A lot of bands start off this way: Raphael Saadiq was a D’Angelo copycat before going Motown, all-girl group The Likes went from alt-rock to Mod – Radiohead, Coheed and Cambria, Maroon 5 (Kara’s Flowers) all cut their teeth, changed their sound, and went on to do some good stuff, maybe these guys will too.
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