New York-based indie electro pop outfit Rebel Kicks — sibling duo Anthony and Steven Babino — grew up in a musical home: their father was a professional jazz musician, and the siblings, who were also lifelong musicians, had played and sang with their father. It took the Babino Brothers some time to find their own music and voice: For a while Anthony had a weekly residency performing mostly covers while Steven hadn’t even figured out which instrument best suited him. But they often played weddings, corporate and private events, Eventually, the Babino Brothers began performing and recording together as sidemen, working on original music together. While working as hired guns in St. Petersburg, FL, the duo had an epiphany about the sort of music they wanted to make, and it opened to the door to Rebel Kicks.

Rebel Kicks formed in 2018 and can trace their origins to when Anthony Babino walked into his younger brother’s room and said “Here is a bass and here is a setlist. We have a gig Friday.” Since then, the duo have released their full-length debut, 2020’s A Portrait of a Man, Part 1, a handful of EPs, including Whiskey and Sinatra, a live EP and a string of singles, which have been featured on shows aired on MTV and Showtime.

“We grew up listening to so many genres—jazz, classic rock, Motown, R&B—and with Rebel Kicks we have finally found a project where we can explore our full range,” Rebel Kicks’ Anthony Babino says. “It may sound cliché to say this, but life is a journey, and we finally hit upon a sound that reflects our journey,” the band’s Steven Babino adds. Sonically, the duo specialize in anthemic alt pop/indie electro rock built around bold electronic soundscapes, melodic bass lines, arena rock friendly riffs, big hooks, the siblings uncanny harmonies and emotive lead vocals singing lyrics that are full of social commentary and introspective, deeply personal revelation.

With both Anthony and Steven Babino being multi-instrumentalists, the pair employ a DIY ethos to their work — with the duo writing, recording, producing and playing each instrumental part of their material. But they do welcome collaboration and have worked with a number of producers and songwriters including Abe Dertner, Jeff Blue, Jason Pennock, Russ DeSalvo, Jimmy Greco, Jackson Hoffman and Ryder Stuart among others. For the New York-based sibling duo, Rebel Kicks represents an opportunity for them to do what they love together. “We are a very close family, and it’s been amazing for us to share in making the music that has always lived in us,” Anthony Babino says. Steven Babino adds: “We are best friends, and it’s not lost on me how lucky we are to make a living writing and performing together.”

Live the band expands into a quartet with longtime touring bandmates Daniel Bradley (drums) and Dorian Lake (keys, vocals). And building upon a rapidly growing national profile, the New York-based outfit has shared bills with acts like Foo Fighters, Blink-182, Mac Miller, Iggy Azalea, Incubus and a lengthy list of others.

This year will see the duo releasing a batch of singles, including their latest single “Electrophoria.” Built around glistening synths, tweeter and woofer rattling beats, a relentless motorik-like groove, slashing power chord-driven riffs paired with their penchant for enormous hooks and arena rock bombast, “Electrophoria” manages to sound as though it were a slick and darkly seductive synthesis of Muse and Echoes-era The Rapture.

“Electrophoria,” was originally commissioned for an independent film that never came to fruition. But as the duo explain the song is an examination of the relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence. “It’s a song about the decision to accept or deny the inevitable, feeling like you’re trapped in a situation that you can’t get out of, while slowing realizing that you may never want to actually leave,” the duo explain.