SIX MONTHS AFTER THEIR FORMATION, NEW YORK TRIO BRAHMS ARE SCORING STRINGS OF FANS.

With the birth rate of bands in Brooklyn rapidly approaching the birth rate of babies worldwide, it was only a matter of time before all the names got used up. Up until a few months ago, scruffy urban troubadours could settle on a monicker just by  mixing and matching mammals with random adjectives, but as more and more college-aged students take to guitars as a way of coping with unemployment, new band names have officially become extinct. The good news is it seems like the names of late composers are now apparently up for grabs. And so, enter BRAHMS: a new trio from New York who musically have more in common with New Order than with the Romantic namesake who famously penned Op. 89, Gesang der Parzen, for mixed chorus and orchestra.

Though they've only released four songs to date,  Stereogum has already named them the “band to watch."  In the short five months since the trio – Cale Parks, Eric Lodwick and Drew Robinson – formed, they have opened for Passion Pit, Class Actress and Lemonade, but after rocking a coveted slot at this year's SXSW, they're no longer just an opening act.  The band’s instant success could have something to do with Parks’ already established career as a solo artist, or Lodwick’s face gracing Marc Jacobs ad campaigns, but that's not to underestimate their sound-- a modern take on 80s synthpop with more hooks than a meat locker.

While the band will be recording their first full length this summer, it isn’t expected to be released until sometime in 2011, keeping them (relatively) grounded in New York. 

“We’ll probably do a little East Coast regional touring this summer,” Parks said, expecting that the band will take him to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore.

BRAHMS creates the lyrics for their songs collectively, and although it seems like a strange source of inspiration, the band looks back to their childhoods as their guiding-light.

Parks says that memories of riding in the back seat of the car with his parents, having no control over the radio – which blasted ‘80s rock sounds, acts as a catalyst in the music making process. 

“It’s the subconscious journey from a passive listener to a non-passive music maker,” Robinson said.

BRAHMS too will stick with your subconscious, leaving your head bobbing long after the song is finished.

Words by: MELISSA RENWICK

Brahms