This is the story of two brothers. Or rather, it is the story of two bands named Brother. One, an Australian trio whose website describes as an amalgam of "signature vocals and guitar with the deep pulse of the didgeridoo, the soaring highs of the bagpipes, and tribal percussion," takes immediate legal action against the other Brother, an English gritpop band that became an overnight hit in Europe this winter.
"Soon as we started to have a little bit of success, out popped these guys from the woodwork with an absolute vendetta against us using their name." said Frank Colcucci, drummer of the freshly re-christened, Viva Brother. "As far as we're concerned we're the band Brother,"
"It's four letters," he adds.
Viva Brother sounds like the Arctic Monkeys, except more boyish and chorus-driven. If the Arctic Monkeys just want you to suck it and see, Viva Brother would like to at least take you out to dinner first. The worst thing you can say about their premier EP Fly by Nights, is that it is too easy to start singing along and forget to listen to the music. Tracks like "Darling Buds of May" are full of vocal hooks that compliment Viva Brother's back-to-basics guitar and percussion.
Viva Brother's first full-length album, Famous First Words, drops early next month. Every song was inspired by the band's early days of working shit jobs to escape their industrial hometown of Slough (pronounced "ow with a 'Sl' at the beginning-the noise you make when you stub your toe," Frank explains).
"Everyone can draw from something in their life to write about." says Frank, "You need something that you feel strongly about. Love seems to be the crux of most songs and for us, it was more a case that we wanted to get out of where we were. The album has a strong theme of escapism- a lot of the lyrics are about getting away from what we were doing."
And with an album release show at the storied Bowery Ballroom in New York, it looks like the band's Slough days are long behind them. Yet even on the fast-track to fame, Frank is adamant that Viva Brother doesn't want to become too wrapped up in success and lose sight of the journey.
"When we got together, we set big goals for ourselves and we want to enjoy ourselves on the way up. We want to do this for a long, long time. We don't want to appear and disappear like a lot of these pop acts."
Viva Brother's stalwart resolve to be on the radio for years to come mirrors their music, which makes up in raw charisma what it lacks in flash and technical skill. A year from now, Frank sees Viva Brother fast at work on a second album. They're especially keen on building on their American fanbase and even attracting the same type of diehard, lifelong fans like they have in England. Oh brother.
