When it comes to first impressions, I’ll have to be completely honest and confess that from my perspective, the Austin duo Hovvdy didn’t test all that well. It was unfair in my assessment, though, to write them off as faceless among an ever-growing field of vanilla folk artists, or even worse, “bro” culturalists intent on playing with dorm-room nonchalance to co-ed bonfires, industry types, and middle-aged suburbanites who have simply given up on having taste. I’m sorry now that I didn’t ever give them a chance (maybe it was the spelling of their name?) and have paid my penance two-fold, catching up with a strident catalog of unassuming songs that span the last decade and making sure I saw them live when they came to my town.

To wit, I hadn’t even noticed the work of Charlie Martin and Will Taylor until the release of last year’s self-titled double album, a record that has since rarely left the rotation, a record that sneakily lands its hooks and all but forces listeners to sing along to every word.

Though it was a dreary first day of spring in Columbus, the boys of Hovvdy brought with them immaculate vibes and a feel-good batch of ineffable pop that their faithful flock treated as gospel. Looking around the room full of hat-wearing, furtively vaping, overly-polite Gen Z fans, it was apparent their lyrics–mostly about love, smiling, and helping out your fellow man–hold a lot of sway. But stylistically, Hovvdy are chameleons, their simply written acoustic laments, accented with Zuma-grunge, ‘90s indie guitar motifs, breezy synthetic beats (though they did have a drummer in tow), and gravel and honey harmonies. It’s those nuanced hues that elevate the duo above the fray of aforementioned faceless folkies.

For this tour, the Hovvdy experience included a bassist, drummer, and piano player in order to adequately flesh out the baubles that make their most recent album such a delight. That said, in the tradition of notable pop duos through time—be it Simon and Garfunkel, Tears for Fears, or even Go West—the draw was the chemistry that exists between the group’s two songwriters. Their interplay on “Forever,” a song that could very well become a generational anthem (in the same way Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” is for some) was infectious, as was the entirety of the crowd joining in on “True Love” as a fitting finale. There was a bit of a lull in the middle of the set, if only because I wasn’t familiar with their older albums and yawn easily during weepy ballads. But the craftiness and clarity of their newest hits, which made up a bulk of the playlist, were effervescent and sometimes even transcendent, their indelible catchiness and the, again, vibes, too gilded to ignore. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that it takes all types, and sometimes, judging a book by its cover, or in this case, its bro-ish facade, will cause you to miss a worthwhile endeavor.