French Horn Rebellion

Location: New York, Brooklyn Bowl

Band: French Horn Rebellion

Robert Perlick-Molinari (younger brother plays french horn)
David Perlick-Molinari (younger brother plays bassoon)
Paul Hammer- (drummer, half of the shows) also in Savoire Adore
Deidre Muro- (back up singer) also in Savoir Adore

French Horn Rebellion are a duo of brothers that infiltrated the Brooklyn indie dance rock scene in 2010 and produced the “Time to Pretend” album of MGMT. Younger brother Robert wished to start a new direction as a musician by incorporating his classical music instrumentation of the french horn with dance music. Recruiting brother David the duo goes on the road and adapts their set to a club environment or a live band environment. Although it seems they prefer the latter as they can play heavy dance songs and penetrate the dance floor even more. They work out of Brooklyn currently but hail from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They also perform on soundtracks for film and do a lot of remixes for other artist’s as well going on tour with the likes of Cut Copy, MGMT and Yelle.

I waited in line to see the one show I could find that seemed reasonably priced ($10) and was in Williamsburg, it happened to be at The Brooklyn Bowl.
As I went inside I was corralled by the winding entry that led to a huge 70’s western disco looking place. I had a stuffed back pack with everything I needed for the day so I when I went in I had felt a little strange about that. The next room showed the bar and to the right, a big dance floor with a stage in the back. To the right of the stage there actually was a bowling alley that reminded me of “lunar madness” where bowling alleys use neon lights and drink specials and play “party music” to get people in the doors on Saturdays but was a little classier. My eyes were a little too wide open to shrug it off as a place that was cheesy, I thought it was a weird, cool place. The bartenders were really nice too.

French Horn Rebellion were booked that night to open for Capitol Cities. I watched them as they fine tuned their instruments before starting. When they did start, they had a dancy jam intro song and the dance floor started to move. There is a dynamic between the brothers as they have little bits of the show where they talk to each other or playfully attack the other or swing a keyboard at the other. I have a brother about my age and one can only imagine that having your brother with you in a van or on a plane all the time for months and then give a performance on stage could be a bit tricky. Although the feeling of accomplishment though they both feel and see in each other is worth any bickering or arguing that inevitably happens on the road i would imagine. This night they’re joined onstage with Deidre Muro, who performs back-up vocals occasionally. I recognize the song “Up All Night” off their e.p. of the same name. There stage show shows the FHR dayglo stickers on their laptops with them dancing and singing behind. Robert plays a few french horn solos which seems appropriate tonight also because Capitol Cities features a trumpet player who performs solos over dance music.

I guess I can see some MGMT in their music or what they’re doing and that’s all good with me as I like them as well.

check out photos of the band and more @
http://www.electromassproductions.com/photos.html