The Belle Brigade - The Belle Brigade

L.A. siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska tend to use words like "awesome", "totally" and "really cool", sometimes in the same sentence. Indie irony and hipster elitism don't figure much into the duo -- dubbed The Belle Brigade -- or their music. You could call them polished, precious or precocious -- frankly, they don't care. They're here to make music of the variety that you might have first heard in a different era on vinyl or eight-track, sweet SoCal harmonied pop and jangling rock of Fleetwood Mac, "Rocky Racoon"-styled Beatle whimsy and the tender, intertwined vocals of Simon and Garfunkel. Maybe swimming in the same gene pool is what makes the difference. Having a veteran music producer/writer father doesn't hurt either. All we know is that the Gruskas' preternatural ability to precisely wrap their voices around, under and in-between the breezy melodies throughout their self-titled April 19 debut (Reprise) is something special to behold.

Tagged as one of L.A.'s "next big things" by various local scribes, The Belle Brigade came together when Barbara, an in-demand session and tour drummer for the likes of Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins, opted for a guitar and songwriting, enlisting younger brother Ethan for the ride. Coming from a place where the term "pop hook" is revered, songs like the majestic slow build anthem "Losers" or earnest, Buckingham/Nicks-ian "Rusted Wheel" can melt even the iciest soul. "We didn't want to make something small and precious," says Barbara. "We wanted to make something big and exhilarating." With the help of producer Matthew Wilder (No Doubt) they've done just that on one of the brightest (in every sense of the word) debuts of the year.

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The Belle Brigade - "Losers" (from the album The Belle Brigade)

The Belle Brigade - "Rusted Wheel" (from the album The Belle Brigade)