The Brunettes
Structure & Cosmetics

Heartwarming indie-poppers circle all the way past irony, back to earnestness

The Brunettes arrived Stateside from their native New Zealand with plenty of attractive luggage: guitars and amplifiers borrowed from The Shins, a stage show resembling The Flaming Lips on Viagra and a sound somewhere between the lo-fidelity punch of The Velvet Underground and an opening montage from Sesame Street. Song titles include “Her Hairagami Set,” “Credit Card Mail Order” and “If You Were An Alien.” Got it? Heather Mansfield’s voice is a sweet amalgamation of Karen Carpenter and Björk that fits nicely into the group’s cheekily arranged cosmo-pop, allowing Jonathan Bree’s warbling contributions to salt everything to taste. Like their countrymen, Flight of The Conchords, The Brunettes have spread the irony thick enough to resemble a kind of postmodern earnestness.