It seems like a tour with the Zombies turned out to be a very fruitful experience for NYC rock and rollers Hollis Brown because they were on fire when they took the stage at Rough Trade’s Brooklyn outpost.

After the band shed its former skin and added a new drummer and keyboard player, they stepped into a territory of precision and force that’s apparent from the start. Fan favorites off their album Ride On the Train were played as wild and rambunctious as Mike Montali and Jon Bonilla had intended them to sound years ago, and new tracks fared just as well. Hardly needing to re-tune in between songs, the band bled from one rocker right onto the next, playing so hot and so nasty that you almost feel bad for all the other New York bands who are too hung up on trying to be the next DIIV. 

At the end of the set, whether fans were yelling “Hollis Brown!” or “One more song!” didn’t matter; they all wanted the same thing. Rising to the occasion, Hollis Brown whipped out “All Along the Watchtower” for an encore. It wasn’t hard to tell that these boys were having one helluva time on stage. Guess what, Hollis Brown? We were, too.

– Melissa Caruso