On their 2002 debut, Purely Evil, Brooklyn’s Rogers Sisters — Jennifer on guitar, Laura on drums, and Miyuki Furtado, who’s neither a Rogers nor a “sister,” on bass — offered an occasionally thrilling garage-fuzz take on the then-burgeoning spastic Gang of Four–mat. Their latest is more sonically diverse, and more enticing. You can dance to opener “Why Won’t You,” but its mix of tube-warmed guitar slashes, thick bass rumble, and thumping backbeat is more Led Zep boogie than the ol’ post-punk herky-jerk. “Money Matters” nicks its initial riff from the intro to “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (which Joy Division stole from Pete Townshend, so it’s a wash), but the song quickly slips into Pixies/Breeders guitarsplatter-and-silence dynamics. The Rogers Sisters do better when the two siblings take the vocal lead with their sometimes sugary, sometimes shouty harmonies, as opposed to Furtado’s sporadic Fred Schneider–isms. And they’re at their best when the voices of all three blend, as they do so hypnotically in the woozy, flute-dappled midnight crawler “Little World.”
Rogers Sisters + Art Brut + Ponys | April 3 | Middle East downstairs, 472-480 Mass Ave, Cambridge | 617.864.EAST
On the Web
The Rogers Sisters: www.therogerssisters.com/
