Three strings hum against the body of singer Jake Orrall’s guitar. Two brothers make up the band Jeff the Brotherhood. They both have one goal: to rock faces off and have fun doing it.
Jeff the Brotherhood rocked Alex’s Bar in Long Beach on Friday night in support of their most recent release, “Hypnotic Nights,” which was produced by Black Keys lead man Dan Auerbach. The group shared the stage with three other acts including Coleen Green, The Diarrhea Planet and The Audacity.
The brothers, guitarist Jake and drummer Jamin Orrall, stopped in Long Beach while on their extensive tour.
“We’ve been on tour for the past four years straight,” Jake Orrall said.
The band got together in their hometown of Nashville, Tenn. in 2001. Since then, they have released eight full length albums, including seven studio releases and one live recording from Jack White’s Third Man Records.
For “Hypnotic Nights,” the band entered the studio with producer and Black Keys guitarist, Auerbach. Using a producer was a first for the group.
“It was way better,” Jake Orrall said. “The main advantage for us having a producer was not getting lost in our artistic vision … Our little world opens up so much more.”
After having so much fun with Auerbach in the studio, the band plans on using a producer more often in their record making process.
“We told ourselves, ‘if this is going to be too stressful … we will just fire him,'” he said. “Us and Dan, we pretty much joked around and made fun of each other. I look forward to making our next record.”
The band played with Los Angeles based singer song writer Coleen Green, who often plays with backing bands or drummers, but stripped down her set to three elements: a bass guitar, drum machine and vocals. The simplistic set highlighted Green’s catchy riffs and soft vocals, which brought back the best sounds that came from 90s era alternative music.
Green’s Friday-night set was her last with Jeff the Brotherhood, after playing with the band for six shows.
“We’re huge fans of hers and buy all her records,” Jake Orrall said. “Coleen’s the best person ever. She’s very pleasing.”
The Audacity, a Fullerton-based band, turned things up with their alternative-edged music, mixing a classic punk rock sound from the late 70s sound that with modern alternative influences.
Punk rock group Diarrhea Planet, also from Nashville, got the crowd riled up with their raw high-energy riffs. The band became one with the crowd, jumping in the pit, ripping out guitar chords and moshing with audience members.
When Jeff the Brotherhood took the stage, Jamin Orrall promptly cued a fog machine behind his drum set while Jake Orrall revved up his guitar. The band played new songs from “Hypnotic Nights,” like the catchy single “Six Pack” and the heavy hitting “Country Life.”
The set was rounded out with older tracks, like 2009’s “You Got the Look,” which turned Alex’s Bar into a vision reminiscent of the punk scene at CBGBs.
Touring will take up the next month for the group, who will make stops across North America for the rest of October and all of November.
The band will then take a break from December to mid-January before heading out to Australia. The break time is unusual for the group, who plays on average of 200 to 250 shows a year, Jake Orrall said.
“I’m planning on trying to write over the winter,” he said, planning on possibly having a new record in the works during the winter and spring.
