The Lost Brothers hail from Ireland and have just released their album So Long John Fante on Bird Dog Records. Boasting one of the sleeves of the year, it is a follow up to debut Trails of the Lonely.
Tipping a hat to their literary hero (and one of ours), John Fante, this is an album which effortlessly, and brilliantly, wallows in a gumbo melting pot of influences. Calling to mind The Everley Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel on the one hand to Richard Hawley (who produced) via Bob Dylan’s Old Time Radio Hour on the other, this is a record that slyly charms and seduces upon first listen.
Displaying touches of old time country rags (Oh Brother), Doo Wop (Only by the Light of the Moon), golden era Rock ‘n’ Roll (The Goodbye Kid), dark folk tales that echo John Steinbeck (Pale Moon, Hollow Call) and tales of love gone wrong (Killing Heart and Bells They Won’t Ring), The Lost Brothers have a maturity and feel for their music that belies their tender years.
Delivered with warmth and confidence, with some deft touches of the macabre and the melancholic to keep things interesting, this is simply a record to treasure.
Grab the album from their Bandcamp page here.
Download The Lost Brothers – The Goodbye Kid mp3 (from So Long John Fante)
Download The Lost Brothers – Oh Brother mp3 (from So Long John Fante)
Download The Lost Brothers – Bells They Won’t Ring mp3 (from So Long John Fante)
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