POP MUSIC REVIEW : Williams Brothers Sincere but Limited at Troubadour

“Don’t Look Now,” the Williams Brothers’ AIDS lament, typifies the duo’s chief strength and major weakness. Their performance of the song at the Troubadour on Thursday was intensely earnest, but its message is stated so obviously and blandly that it registers only lightly on the emotional scale.

In the last few years, Andrew and David Williams have become fixtures on L.A.’s bohemian folk-pop scene, and at the Troubadour you could see how their sincere, coffeehouse-casual manner and attractive sound would draw a following. Their limitations were equally evident.

Starting in an austere, downbeat folk mode and building to a full, amplified folk sound, the 30ish twins framed their wistful romanticism, their psychotherapy-style childhood recollections and their pleas for tolerance in society in well-crafted settings that occasionally created a rich, evocative mood.

They ultimately added accordion and mandolin (by frequent playing and writing partner Marvin Etzioni) to their drums and cello support, but, despite these instrumental resources, their music was surprisingly monochromatic, and the brothers’ smooth harmonies lacked the kind of bite that creates character and delivers complex emotions. They seem to come by their earnestness honestly enough, but they simply don’t appear equipped to test deep waters.