Come together

Two heads

are better than one, and it certainly helps you break out of the sensitive singer/songwriter mode. The collaboration of former solo acts Josh Lamkin and Eliot Bronson, the Brilliant Inventions, takes advantage of the duo's ability to harmonize, and, while still prone to the tender ballad, it also allows them to indulge in a bit of playful whimsy, as on the bouncy, pop come-on of "Naked."

"I kinda got into the singer/songwriter vein because I was playing solo. But always at heart, I think, I've always wanted to be a pop rocker," says Lamkin, who cites Ben Folds as his greatest songwriting influence.

Lamkin met former Boston resident Bronson while playing shows together, and he convinced Bronson to move to Atlanta about a year ago. Almost from the beginning they met with good fortune, winning the Eddie's Attic Shootout (previous winners include John Mayer and Shawn Mullins), and then securing representation from Russell Carter, who manages Indigo Girls, the Jayhawks and Matthew Sweet. They've already recorded a live album, but are looking forward to doing a "real" studio album.

"I feel like we haven't even debuted yet, and in a way this is still the development period," says Bronson. "If I can make records with a budget, it will be so much better than anything I can do on a shoestring. You can't realize an artistic direction without money."

For Bronson's part, he's happy with the new artistic direction after being ghettoized in the Boston folk scene.

"It's so segregated. There are the scene people and they're into their people. If there's a singer/songwriter doing more of a John Mayer/Jason Mraz thing, they won't listen to him," Bronson says. "It seems like Atlanta has a lot of young people that want to go out and find new music, and there's a lot of crossover. The same people come out to see different styles, and it's not so fractured."

The Brilliant Inventions play Eddie's Attic Thurs., Dec. 30, 8 p.m., with Pete Schmidt. $8.