Illustration by Lainna Fader

He’s My Brother She’s My Sister “Tales That I Tell”
(from their self-released, self-titled EP out now)

On their self-titled seven-track EP, He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister forego a singular vision and instead deliver an album of duality. Brother and sister Robert and Rachel Kolar represent two distinct faces of the band. On the first track, “Tales That I Tell,” Rachel sings like a woman scorned, her confident if not slightly intimidating drawl backed by hoof-clopping percussion and muscular acoustic guitar. It’s a track that’s fairly straightforward and after a full listen, isn’t really indicative of the EP as a whole. The other face is Robert, most fully realized on the song “Coattails.” Like a Johnny Cash-infused version of the Stray Cats’ “Rock This Town,” the song walks a line between rock ‘n’ roll and down-home folk. The vocals echo brazenly and really drive the track forward, frenzied and shouted. And while these two tracks stand as distinct visions, everything else is the intertwined mix of the two, most excellently represented on the cover of “Moonage Daydream.” The languidly strummed dirge rolls along, picking up drums and duetted vocals and, finally, a Mexican horn section which would have no trouble feeling at home in the credits of a Sergio Leone film. He’s My Brother, She’s My Sister is a two-headed snake of a folk band, and both sides are loaded with venom.

—Steven Martinez