Seraphina Lotkhamnga on April 30th, 2011

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Brother, the other band NME has touted as part of their revival dubbed “The Return of the Great British Guitar Band,” arrived at the Satellite for their Los Angeles debut on Tuesday. It didn’t take long for frontman Lee Newell to immediately introduce skeptical ears to his cocky banter, but thankfully the Slough-based band’s eight-song set quickly gave way to copious pop melodies that were as big as their ego.

• ||| Photos by Carl Pocket

You could call this band presumptuous. In fact, some might even label Brother as arrogant, but no one can deny that their effort is obvious. Unlike their media-forced competition, the Vaccines (who played an amiable yet less than inspiring set at the same venue not too long ago), this four-piece didn’t seem to consider toting indifference around as an option when it came to their potential fame.

“We’re so happy to be playing Silver Lake,” Newell said after diving into their first song. “This is a big deal.” At first it was difficult to discern whether he meant it was big deal for them or for us. Their “Fly By Nights” EP has already been backed by a label, after all. But then the deceivingly gracious statement was followed up with, “We’re going to be huge someday, you know,” which only yielded a chuckle from the industry-heavy crowd.

The pairing of overt attitude and cheeky pop choruses (which almost abuse inserts of “ooo-ooohs,” “woo-oohs” and “la-la-las” all plucked from the repertoire of the Beatles and the Kinks) may sound familiar. However, merely comparing Brother’s confident swagger with Oasis’ legendary conceit is far too easy. Pointing fingers at a band that is simply over-zealous about leading a Britpop revival (as much a figment of the U.K. media as anything) isn’t difficult to do. Both the Vaccines and Brother are taking their influences and modernizing songs about party life for the ADD generation of today, but only one of these bands has realized that it’s not a sin to show they care about their future.

Supporting Brother’s belief that they will be headlining Glastonbury any time soon is ridiculously naïve even for the indie music scene’s biggest stranger. But with undeniable hits such as “Darling Buds of May” and “Time Machine,” there is commercial appeal. Chords and lyrics were simple throughout the set, but the lack of irony in their songs was the most refreshing. From the beginning to end, the set featured straight-forward, guitar pop-rock you can sing along to whether you are spazzing out solo-style in your bedroom or drunkenly huddling around the jukebox with your buddies.

There’s been a recent surge of Britpop reunions with the likes of Pulp, Blur and Suede, so it makes sense that the term revival is a bit touchy when most don’t want to let go of the past just yet. Brother are the new kids on the block who are just excited to keep the momentum going; taking a grain of salt with their vanity is recommended.

L.A.’s Useless Keys opened up the night.