South African-born indie rockers Kongos are literally a band of brothers, siblings who grew up playing music together and now write songs, record albums and tour the world doing the same thing. Unlike the Hansons or the Jonases, though, the members of Kongos (brothers Daniel, Dylan, Jesse and Johnny) don’t play bubblegum pop, although their memorable, accessible songs have been used in advertisements, video games and WWE wrestling shows.
The sons of South African singer-songwriter John Kongos (who scored chart-topping hits in Europe in the 1970s), the Kongos brothers grew up all over the world, in London and in the United States, and are now based in Arizona. That gives their music a worldly, cosmopolitan flavor that’s equally at home among hipsters and pro-wrestling fans. All Music called the band’s music “as idiosyncratic as it is stadium-ready” on 2016 album Egomaniac, and Jesse Kongos told the band’s hometown paper, the Arizona Republic, “There’s a certain essence, I think, in most of our recordings. We call it the Kongos sound.” That unique sound has allowed the brothers to bridge nations and genres in bringing their music to the world.
Hard Rock Hotel, 9 p.m. May 19, starting at $25 plus tax and fee. 888.929.7849
