Las Vegas Weekly

March 12, 2010 · 5:33 PM

Warming up with Twin Brother

By Spencer Patterson

Twin Brother is one of the rising stars of the Vegas music scene. They played Thursday at Neon Reverb.

Photo: Corlene Byrd

It’s 2 a.m. and frighteningly cold out, yet a crowd remains gathered behind Beauty Bar as Friday comes into focus. Twin Brother must be up next.

In a matter of months, the six-piece indie outfit has stormed its way to the forefront of the Downtown scene, building buzz with a sound that seems destined for Pitchfork’s Best New Music page. So though we can’t feel our feet, and sleep beckons from afar, no one’s walking out the door. Not now.

Once the music starts—strangely, with the repeated guitar riff of Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”—the coldness seems to recess slightly. Maybe it’s the thrill of hearing something like this, before it gets big. If you’ve only heard the two demos on Twin Brother’s MySpace page, you haven’t heard Twin Brother. Those songs stay relatively quiet, but live, the band rocks. Sure, the four-part harmonies are straight outta Grizzly Bear, but beneath them bubbles something far heavier than Ed Droste & Co. have ever laid down. The Twin Brother experience is as much about the adventure of the arrangements— will they land softly or take you off the rails?—as the honeyed voices floating above. You’ll be able to hear them at home for yourself soon enough; the band has been hard at work on a debut album inside Ronald Corso’s National Southwestern Electronic Recordings studio.

Twin Brother came prepared for the weather—at least most of its members did. Guitarist Sonny Saipale, whose wicked pedal suitcase suggests he ransacked a music store, performs in a T-shirt, then threatens to strip even that off. Hey, when you’re as hot as Twin Brother, maybe winter clothes aren’t necessary.

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