Ears Wide Open: Cones

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cones
Cones (photo by Owen Campbell)

After spending the past few years in Eleanor Friedberger‘s band, brothers Jonathan and Michael Rosen make their their folk-rock debut as Cones. Michael, who is also part of Chris Cohen’s band, plays keys, and Jonathan is on guitar. Their musical style blends Jonathan’s pop sensibilities with Michael’s more technical interest in soundscapes and orchestrating keys. When Jonathan isn’t playing a 1970s rock star on HBO (see “Vinyl”), he works as an animator. In addition to videos for Friedberger and Delicate Steve, he did the animation in Toro Y Moi’s “Live From Trona” concert film, and created all 2,500 drawings for the “Echoes On” video.

“Echoes On” was inspired by life on the road, where the hypnotic atmosphere of long drives gave Jonathan time to think about loss and uncertainty about the future. He wanted the images in the video to unfold the way thoughts do as they travel the road of time. The song is from the duo’s forthcoming EP, “Whatever You’re Into.”

According to official sources, the band is called Cones because cones are orange, have a cool shape and can be worn as hats.

||| Watch: “Echoes On”

||| Live: Cones play Friday at Bootleg Theater, opening for Dent May. Tickets.