my new favorite band

I went and saw a local The Broken Family Band at the Portland Arms pub last night. (Why do half the pubs here have "arms" in the name?) The band blew me away. Their first set sounded like Calexico's blend of rock and country. Though they lacked horns, the singer poured out hilarious couplets in a twangy American accent. He asked between songs if there were any questions. "What size shoe do you wear?" "Eight and a half," he shot back. "But I think the mean in the band is 10. Not mean—average. We're not mean. We're nice."

After the set, we talked to the singer and he said his girlfriend is American and gives him shit for singing like her countrymen. "How would you like it if I sang in a fake British accent?" he imitated in a falsetto. But it just doesn't sound right to sing these country-ish songs with his native accent, he said, and he's right.

Tonight they're on BBC1 hosted by Rob Da Bank—the worst dj name ever, but he's John Peel's successor so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt. And he's having my new favorite band on his show, so he must be OK.

Download a few of the band's songs from their website here.