The Brunettes @ The Northcote Social Club

Peddling their shiny new sub-pop release, Structure and Cosmetics, The Brunettes hit the Northcote Social Club with the distinct glow – and the barest traces of road-weariness – of a band starting to make an international impact.

Jonathan Bree and Heather Mansfield are the photogenic core of the band – the ‘structure’ and the ‘cosmetics’, if you’ll forgive the cheap shot. Live, the stylish duo are bolstered by six other musicians on a slightly crowded stage – including a guy who occasionally races over to cover the keyboards while Heather is busy on the harmonica, the xylophone or the oboe, as she often is. It’s chaotic, but it works. In contrast to their studio sound, the band tonight has a collective, bombastic presence similar to The Go! Team or Architecture in Helsinki.

The heady, impossibly upbeat Archies aesthetic – promoted by the statuesque Heather in her very Vegas-entertainer-circa-1968 trumpet-sleeved white shift, in league with that very handy horn section – is balanced by Jonathan’s angular guitar shapes, moody presence and nasal Television inspired vocals.

The Brunettes’ sound is, loosely speaking, 1960s pop meets 1980s production values. When I described the Brunettes to a friend thus he said “Oh, like the B52s?”… Well, yes… and no. While there are a couple of self-consciously twee moments, like when the entire band is introduced with the help of a Sesame Street rhyming chant, not to mention some verge-of-daggy YMCA-style arm movements during the ironically-titled Brunettes Against Bubblegum Youth; there is enough depth to rescue them from going the way of the B52s and launching into novelty orbit.

There are some truly lovely girl- group harmonies and arrangements, and songs like the current album’s title track have a depth and majesty to them that belie the bubblegum front. Who knew there was optimistic pop of this calibre still left to be made? Well, perhaps last year’s tour-mates and sub-pop alumni The Shins. There’s certainly a shared musical exuberance there.

Appeared in PBSfm online magazine.