Kevin Bronson on August 23rd, 2012

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He’s My Brother She’s My Sister is thick with the schtick – between the thrift-store costumes, tap-dancing percussionist and the sibling revelry of vocalists Rob and Rachel Kolar, they’ve constructed an indie-Vaudeville aesthetic that asks, if you please, to check your practiced sense of cool at the door. There’s more than a kernel of truth in the title of the quintet’s debut album “Nobody Dances in This Town” – it takes a lot to get a party started in the some of the venues where Rob Kolar and his band Lemon Sun toiled for years. That HMBSMS has is testament to their free-spirited theatrics – and to a musical sense that sees the band embrace and mash up four or five styles in a single set. Their album, due this winter on Park the Van Records, nods to folk, cabaret, Americana and classic rock. Surely you’ll find something for your mixtape there.

||| Stream: “Electric Love”

||| Live: He’s My Brother She’s My Sister plays at noon Friday at California Plaza as part of the Grand Performances series.