Other Lovers

It’s not every night of the week you walk into a familiar bar and discover multiple outstanding local bands, the type that deserve national recognition and choice festival spots. Then again, it’s a more likely occurrence in Austin, Texas, where hidden talents are about as abundant as craft beer, BBQ and fixie-riding hipsters.


So it really wasn’t too surprising when Scoot Inn’s Thursday night bill of back-to-back local acts Ease Them Pistols and Other Lovers knocked the socks (and the boots right along with ‘em) off the couple dozen audience members keen to pay the more-than-reasonable five-dollar cover.

A round of raucous folk-rock from following outfit Other Lovers had an identical bowl-you-over effect. They began in 2011 as the duo project of vocalist/percussionist Megan Fowler and vocalist/guitarist Brandon Boyd, and then more recently recruited guitarist Chase Dungan, bassist Travis Glass and drummer Sean Ragsdale. The quintet released its debut EP Born to Party/Born to Be Old in November 2013, a snappy, instantly memorable six-song collection that accounted for about half of Thursday’s set list.

From among those tunes and a sizable sampling of new cuts, whiskey-soaked ragers like “22” and “Sea Rats” proved that this group transcends the oversaturated neo-folk milieu. These tunes and a few others are rhythmically punk rock, decidedly honky-tonk in their dueling, twanged-out riffs, and soulfully sultry in their seamless male-female vocal interplay. Through all of it, while Boyd and the boys brought pure grit, Fowler attacked with unmatchable moxie: she’s got pipes for days, but this gal can also cut a rug like no other.

Best of all, it was plain to see that both Ease Them Pistols and Other Lovers – though they clearly took their performances seriously – are in this biz chiefly for the joyous release, as a labor of love between friends. So long as each band continues to make music in that mode, they’ll go as far as or further than the best of ‘em. - David Brendan Hall

Sometimes all you need is a couple of guitars and one gigantic feeling. Other Lovers has written the kind of song that feels like it’s been inside of you since you were a teenager, just waiting to burst forth into the world. In fact, they sing like they’re feeling and loving and living every moment. And once the guitars burst open in the chorus, the group channels decades of hooky guitar rock to convey the kind of joyful trepidation that words can only hint at. – Carter Delloro - OVRLD

Happy 2014, y'all! Let's ease into the new year with the country/rock stylings of duo-turned-quintet Other Lovers out of Austin, TX. Does the full band help or hurt their sound, you ask? Watch and we'll tell ya.

SOUNDS LIKE
• A musical double-date between Johnny and June Carter Cash and Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen
• Those Darlins got a Deer Tick that infected them with a quarter-life crisis

KEY TRACKS
Satisfied, Can't Party Here, All of My Nothing, New

BEST LYRICS
"The bars down on West 6th have all lost their flare / Filled with the boys and girls with perfect hair / Hunting for models and millionaires / Wish it was me, I ain't going anywhere" -- Bulleit
"Can't party with assorted cheeses / Can't party with incurable diseases" -- Can't Party Here

OVERALL RATING
Derek: 4 out of 5
Kevin: 4 out of 5 - Last Weeks Album

Megan Fowler and Brandon Boyd (not of Incubus) appear to be relatively new to the scene, at least in this incarnation—the band formed less than a year ago. Vesper very much enjoyed their straightforward orchestration and the surprising depth of Megan’s voice (which we thought reminiscent of Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir). You can listen to more of Other Lovers here. Don’t miss the track called Space Cadet. - Vesper Magazine