Tug At Your Heartstrings: The Brother Brothers Tugboats EP

There is this space where very few songs live. That perfect balance between light and lonely sadness that flutters your chest a bit and when you close your eyes to listen to it you can feel your throat start to clench up a bit and your eyelids dampen ever so slightly. That is where the songs of Adam and David Moss live. That perfect place where emotion runs freely and unapologetically. Beauty thrives and a bit of sadness isn’t a bad thing. 

Over the course of my short time knowing the music of The Brother Brothers I feel like I have gotten to know these songs fairly intimately, in live settings or on the old Youtube but the recordings on the Tugboats EP cements them in a way that feels live and energetic, but is there for us to enjoy over and over again. It would be hard to not draw comparisons to The Milk Carton Kids with how their two voices intertwine and almost become one sound with subtle layers you can peel back like an onion…equally making you weep with the subsequent sting that the gorgeous tones and intricate playing imparts on the listener. 

The songs on Tugboats range from the luminous, brilliant shimmer of “Bird in a Tree” that is like a feather being lifted and fallen by the wind, held up by the bobbing quiver of the brothers’ vocal harmonies and a sawing violin during the breaks and a quickly picked acoustic guitar to the noir, ominous plodding of “Columbus Stockade Blues”. The two artists utilize their instruments in new ways on each song that creates a mood and atmosphere which will truly keep you attention over the mere 18 minutes that the EP contains. 

Blending is what these fellas seem to excel at in ways that many artists cannot. Be it in the sonic quality of the songs, the coalesed perfection of their vocals or taking two instruments and making them all you need to create a swirling orchestra of sounds where you don’t need any more. Or perhaps in their ability to scatter a variety of feelings from downtrodden and melancholy blueness in “Cairo, IL” or keeping their humor intact with “Notary Public”. Its that ability to blend and mix sounds and emotion that makes the music of these two artists so endearing, interesting and affecting.

Check out Tugboats EP below today, purchase it from the Bro Bros site or check out a couple of videos we shot with them a couple months back for The Old Spruce Sessions…