Keeping it all in the family

Given their family's musical history and sheer size, it's not a shock that the three O'Malley brothers who make up the Safes -- Frankie , 33; Patrick , 30; and Michael , 29 -- formed a rock band. What is surprising is that they didn't start a marching band.

As the youngest three of 11 siblings (there's another brother and seven sisters), the instrument-swapping trio -- who together are one of the brightest outfits on the Chicago rock scene -- grew up surrounded by pop music. From the time most of the kids were in diapers until they graduated high school, their father, Frank, a construction worker by day and professional musician by night, played in a rock 'n' roll cover band that supplied the soundtrack to hundreds of dances and weddings throughout Chicago during the '60s, '70s, and early '80s. The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fats Domino, traditional Irish music: You name it, their dad played it, and the O'Malley siblings heard it.

The music rubbed off in a big way. "I brought a Beatles record to show and tell in kindergarten," says Frankie O'Malley, who splits the Safes' drumming and guitar duties with Patrick (Michael plays bass, and all three brothers write and sing). "My sisters took me to see Cheap Trick when I was 8 years old. Hearing that stuff just blew my mind when I was a little kid. Looking at the Beatles' 'Magical Mystery Tour' album cover, or the Cheap Trick 'Dream Police' cover, I wondered if these people were real. It really drew me in. It was always music around the house, and it was all kinds of music."

The Safes truly is a family affair. An O'Malley cousin plays the harp. A niece and nephew play the violin and other assorted string instruments. And they all appear on the Safes' latest full-length disc, "Well, Well, Well," adding even more color and sparkle to the finish of the brothers' already sparkling slab of power-pop goodness. So does Dad, whom the band coaxed out of retirement to strap on his saxophone at age 70. When the Safes hit town tonight as part of a two-month club tour -- they're at P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville -- it'll be just the three brothers trading harmonies and guitar licks and performing the brash, vivacious, tough-but-sweet songs for which they're earning a fast-growing reputation. "Phone Book Full of Phonies," "Bottoms Up," and "Deception" are just a few of the new disc's highlights.

"It's a really exciting time for us," Frankie O'Malley says over the phone from his parents' house just outside Chicago in Park Ridge, Ill. "I love our first two releases [ 'Family Jewels' and EP 'Boogie Woogie Rumble' ], but when I put this one on I said, '. . . This is the record I've been wanting to make my whole life!' "

Collaborating with a band he's known since he was a toddler can have its downs as well as ups, O'Malley allows, but the brothers' relationship, he says, is certainly not the soap opera lived by other brother-led bands such as the Kinks and Oasis. "Musically, it works great because we all know where we're coming from and we're on the same page -- we have total music telepathy," he says. "Yeah, there is fighting, and probably to a degree that would break any other band up. But with us it's like, he's gonna be there at Christmas either way, you know what I mean?"

"Boys will be boys," says engineer Brian Deck , who helmed the sessions for "Well, Well, Well" at Chicago's Engine Studios. "These guys grew up under the same roof. They basically agree about all matters musical. But because they are brothers, they're going to argue about it anyway. That's what families do."

"Well, Well, Well" marks a move away from the Safes' grittier beginnings and toward the more melodic pop sensibility favored by the likes of Fountains of Wayne and the Raconteurs' Brendan Benson . Why the sudden shift in sound? "Well, we have three songwriters in our band," O'Malley explains, "and it just happened that I wrote 10 of the 11 songs on the first album. The second release was mostly Michael's, and this is mostly Patrick's record."

The writing rotation, he insists, was "completely unintentional" -- even though Frankie says he's got 25 tunes written and ready to go for the next album. "We also have a full record of country songs in the can," he adds. "But we're waiting until people care enough about us to buy something like that."

BITS & PIECES. Tonight The Coots are at Toad. Emergency Music is at Great Scott. The Everyday Visuals are at the Lizard Lounge. Tomorrow Loveletter, a new band featuring Mr. Airplane Man's Margaret Garrett and the Hayseed Prophets' John Haydon , performs covers of Gene Clark, Gram Parsons, the Everly Brothers, and more at the Plough & Stars. Sunday Little Brazil (featuring ex-members of the Desparacidos and the Good Life ) and Ladyfinger are upstairs at the Middle East. Monday Sparklehorse tops a terrific Paradise bill that includes opener Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter. Stoley P.T. is at the Middle East Upstairs. Tuesday The Lemonheads are at the Paradise. Elvis Perkins is at Great Scott. Vinyl Skyway caps its monthlong residency at the Lizard Lounge. Wednesday The Ataris are at the Middle East Downstairs. Laura Vecchione is at Johnny D's. The Dennis Brennan Band is at the Lizard Lounge. Thursday The Konks top an Abbey Lounge bill that includes Muck and the Mires, Triple Thick, and the Black Clouds.