The Lost Brothers

If you like your heartache with a dollop of acoustic guitar, then let me introduce you to the Lost Brothers.

“Something taken long ago/all the love you’ll never know/on the days you’ll leave behind and the dreams you’ve kept undone/don’t be angry at the sun,” is one sample of the heartache put to song on “Angry at the Sun,” the first track on their debut album Trails of the Lonely (Parts I and III).

The Lost Brothers intersect between the Greenwich Village folk of Simon and Garfunkel, the pristine harmonies of the Everly Brothers, and the raw heartache of Hank Williams. It makes for an engaging new musical voice that emerges from deep traditions.

“Wake Me Up,” has a country lilt anchored by a whistle. “I have no time for growing old/so please release me from this fold/when darkness comes I’m going home,” they sing in gorgeous harmony.

“Joker Ghost Laughing Track,” 1:20 of the band cracking up with one another in the studio, shows that they’re not all about sadness behind the scenes.
This is the kind of gorgeous yet understated music that is perfect for puttering around the house on a day off, a perfect companion as you read, clean, paint or write (in my case).

They’re a bit shy at naming their names on the website, but that hasn’t kept Hot Press and The Irish Times from heaping praise on faux-siblings Mark McCausland and Oisin Leech, who’ve previously been in Irish outfits The 747’s and The Basement.

The Lost Brothers will be doing a pair of dates in Manhattan in The Living Room and Rockwood Music Hall, both on 10/23.

They have been announced for Other Voices New York, alongside the National, Martha Wainright, Roddy Doyle and many more. It will take place at the Poisson rouge October 27 and 28 in Manhattan.

Other Voices, the internationally acclaimed music series from Ireland, crosses the Atlantic this fall for a special two-night celebration of music and literature.

Other Voices NYC is presented by Imagine Ireland in association with the Burgundy Stain Sessions and will feature performances by Oscar winning Irish artist Glen Hansard (The Swell Season), Bryce and Aaron Dessner (The National), Thomas Bartlett, Bell X1 and AfroCelt’s Iarla O’Lionaird among others.

I spoke with the Leech about their sound and their show. Here’s how it went.

How would you describe the band to someone who has never heard your sound?
Two mechanics lost in the middle of a junkyard, building a Cadillac and waiting for people to stumble upon it.

What are your influences and what song from your influence(s) did you wish you had written?
I wish I had written any song by Hank Williams. He was the first punk rocker and the most honest songwriter that ever lived. He really wrote the rule book.
We were also influenced by a number of disparate things, like Steinbeck novels, the sea and Twilight Zone episodes.

Ireland has seen a resurgence in folk music these last few years, with people like the Frames and Damien Rice breaking big on both sides of the Atlantic. How does that scene help or hurt what you are doing and why?
It’s great to see Glen Hansard doing so well. We respect him and look up to him a lot. It’s also nice to see Fionn Regan going to the states and making a bit of noise. The idea of Irish songwriters going to America and vice-versa, learning from each other, is so important to music. That is a tradition that should never die.
What have been the highlights of making the album? The low-lights?
A highlight was going to Hastings for a week to write songs for the album. The lowlight is leaving Hastings and realizing that we did nothing but stay by the pool all week.

What can people expect from your live show?
Lots of folk ‘n’ roll!