Wistful, dreamy melodies resonated in the sticky late summer air last Monday evening in Allston, Massachusetts as Twin Sister and Memoryhouse came together to kick off their US tour. Quirky-cool front women Andrea Estella and Denise Nouvion of Twin Sister and Memoryhouse, respectively, lit up the tiny venue with vocals that ranged far greater than their tiny frames lead on.

Twin Sister, a five piece indie-pop group from Long Island New York, began their set with a breezy, undeniably enchanting gem, “Lady Daydream”. “It could all be a dream”, Estella crooned repetitively, backed with brooding atmospherics and blatant minimalism. Expectations were quickly set for each song to follow and were just as hastily exceeded.

The very same unparalleled nuances of slightly offbeat romanticism and dreaminess initiated in the first composition stayed true throughout the entirety of the set. Estella’s voice gauzily blanketed rhythmic melodies most evidently on “Milk & Honey”, a bit of a faster paced track about the annoyances at the near end of a relationship. Its tracks like that where the band really highlights their ability to deliver both memorable beats and sincerely pretty vocals, simultaneously.

Twin Sister (pictured) alternated between playing songs on their 2008 EP, Vampires With Dreaming Kids and their 2010 EP, Color Your Life EP. “All Around and Away We Go”, disco-esque and full of airy, quietly potent vocals, got the crowd swaying in unison, then “Ginger” slowed it down with it’s tender, starry-eyed quality. The former’s optimistic lyrics “Under purple-blue blossoms/I’m smiling for two” with a flirty emphasis on “for two” paralleled the latter’s barefaced observation, “Ginger kids can be nothing but violent”. Lyrical optimism is no arbitrary element in Twin Sister’s repertoire, almost every song includes some instance of smiling, dreaming or simply losing not amounting in becoming a “loser” —yet.

Twin Sister’s knack to surpass the already beautiful harmonies on the recorded EP, at a live performance is alone reason to go seem them when they come to a town near you. If that’s not reason enough, they offer both of their EPs in full for free to download on their website [www.twinsistermusic.com], along with countless other demos.

Memoryhouse slipped onstage seamlessly after a short interlude. Evan Abeele, one half of the lovely Canadian duo (although they played as a three piece live this particular night with the addition of Adrian Vieni) did not waste any time beginning to play the opening to their prevalent single, “Lately”. Beneath a gauzy sheath of ambient loops that were sampled from Jon Brion’s “Phone Call”, emerged hazy, beautiful vocals delivered by Denise Nouvion. Etherealness swept over the crowd as Nouvion hung on every word, dragging out each syllable in a delicate, dazzling way. The band’s classically inspired take on shoegazey dream-pop juxtaposed amid the set prior added an evident polish and somberness not present earlier in the evening.

The entirety of Memoryhouse’s set flowed naturally one song into another with very few short awkward pauses and wisecracks from Vieni. Tracks off of the band’s January 2010 released, The Years EP, acted as the foundation amidst a few others. With the passing of each composition onto the next, an inescapably emotional ambiance filled the dimly lit room. A technical complication inhibited projections from enhancing the already stunning performance, but were not missed or even needed at all. It was not difficult to imagine the lomo-quality images of picturesque seas and blissfully calm fields of wildflowers that would have probably been.

Memoryhouse’s lone drawback existed in their ironic lack of memorability. The set as a whole was ultimately impressive and undeniably beautiful, particularly within the vocals, but the song range was somewhat monotonous. Regardless, the unwavering sentiment was nowhere near a disappointment, but more of a quality that could be improved upon. And indeed, improve they did during their encore.

After a substantial dose of applause, Memoryhouse returned to the stage to deliver a final melody. To much of a surprise, they chose to cover (for only the second time live) My Bloody Valentine’s “When You Sleep”, a bold decision that panned out oh so hauntingly. Syrupy vocals and minimal keyboard replaced cloudy distortion in an alluring manner. The track was slowed down quite a bit to a ballad that captured its organic essence in a completely different form. The standout track of the night without question, Memoryhouse ended the evening with a real showstopper, pun intended.

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Be sure not to miss out on this exquisite collaboration when the tour arrives in a town near you. Find more information at the Twin Sister and Memoryhouse websites.