We love a good family band, but even with greats like CCR, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the The Allman Brothers, breaking past biological boundaries has its own proven benefits. So although songwriter Brandon Borrego obviously holds a shatterproof tie to his brother Louis, we gotta give them credit for letting some “outside” voices in on their tunes.

And that’s on behalf of The Melos (“the mellows”), which began as the handle for Brandon’s Austin-based output. That was, until Spring 2022, when the Borrego brothers linked up with bassist Jacob Moore and drummer Dante Muñoz in a classic case of SXSW kismet. Sparks flew, bonds grew, and the new iteration of The Melos soon started building on top of the existing framework from the Borregos’ initial batch of originals. As heard on a pair of back-to-back tracks (released last July and August, respectively) The Melos maintain the Borregos’ fraternal formula of Eddie Money-meets-Bruce Springsteen with a modern pop twist, for – true to their name – some undeniably laidback indie rock.

That dulcet saga continues today with The Melos’ first single of the year and a show 11PM tonight at Swan Dive with openers Bovine at 10PM and closers Tealwaves at midnight. You’ll recognize some familiar threads on “I Don’t Wanna Be” – chiefly Brandon’s grizzled, straight-from-the-heart vocals and cinematic chord progressions that perfectly capture the working class strife of your average Joe. But thanks to some striking snare fills, moody guitar tones, unrestricted bass riffs, and a tastefully-brief bridge section that quickly cools things off before cranking ’em all the way back up, the only thing missing from “I Don’t Wanna Be” is a full stadium’s-worth of applause after the final chord. Sure as hell sounds like a stereo-spanning family affair to us, and an incredibly infectious one at that, and we can’t wait to hear what the boys crank out next.

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