The Truckee Brothers have been quietly breaking in their new album, Double Happiness, with a month-long residency at a dive bar in a seedy area of San Diego. The wall to wall crowd is self-absorbed, unresponsive, and typically short on attentiveness; in other words, perfect to rehearse the new songs in front of. If they can win THESE people over at THIS watering hole...well...

Peat spots a punter in front of the stage grooving with his girl and asks him if he wants the Truckee Brothers to "play something cool". The guy's been alternating between snogging his date, and chain-swigging booze. Peat knows he's helping him impress the girl. Nodding deliberately, Cady Truckee stabs into the guitar riff for Kiss My Komodo, throwing his guitar behind his head while playfully roasting the front-row guy with his fearless six-foot-four baritone. Diving into the fray, Ott and Hemi steal the song back from Cady, reminding everyone of how much this rhythm section kills. Then with impish delight, the band stops on a dime and eases into the mellow piano-driven tune called Spectre, pounding out an unforgettable motif in octaves and somehow making the piano actually sound cool. Dangerous even.

Cady is joined by Peat as they begin to harmonize, Cady's baritone and Peat in a complimentary crisp tenor. Their pitch is sincerely spot-on, their harmonies locked, a rarity in an era of unsophisticated screamers and whiners in male-driven rock. The lyrics are downplayed yet surly like the bully at the back of the class who's too smart for his own good:

"Love looms eternal like a bad check you can't cash"
"I sprayed weed killer on my hometown roots / Stained my skin, bleached my teeth / Take my prescription mood / You've got to be strong and broken / At the start of the 21st century"
"Groupies and sycophants! / You can kiss my Komodo from the underside!"

The band rages on with a combination of rock n' roll kiss-offs like Gritty Pretty and Snap Tight, with their driving rhythms and well-orchestrated dual guitar riffs, and emotive cool-downs like Bon Voyeurage, and I Am Nature which hint at a kind of rarified depth embodied only by a short list of bands.

In London, The Truckee Brothers basked in the glory of selling out shows at Shane McGowan's Boogaloo Club; received recognition from various radio stations, including the BBC and Radio London and the press raved about their invigorating performances, claiming "The Truckee Brothers cracked the landscape of our world and we saw the light.". In the US, the band earned airplay on KCRW, Indie 103.1 in LA, 91X & 94/9 in San Diego, as well as college and online stations, been heard featured in shows on MTV, written the film score for the indie Poly Esther, toured the US & UK and earned nomination for Best Rock Band at their hometown awards. The Truckee Brothers are forging ahead with the bona fide endorsement of cats like the late Buddy Blue (Beat Farmers) and Mike Watt (of Minutemen/Stooges fame), who has been spinning the TBs on his radio show. Their friend Lucinda Williams recently said to Paul Westerberg, "Hey Paul! These are the Truckee Brothers. They F$%^ing Rock!". Well, they are certainly winning the crowd over one punter at a time.

-Simeon Flick

Look for the new album Double Happiness released on Populuxe Records, distributed by Redeye Distribution on August 7, 2007