Although they’ve only been recording since the late 1980s, the Holmes Brothers are veterans of the era when competing groups would duke it out, musically, under the yellow lights of streetlamps on balmy summer evenings. It’s that sense of timelessness, of optimism found in the shared hope and romance of youth, that gives the music of this Virginia-bred trio its strange transporting power.

The Holmes Brothers’ strength lies in an ethic of togetherness. Popsy Dixon (who also serves as drummer) sports a flexible tenor that leaps into a nimble falsetto, while Wendell Holmes’ voice is all down-home gospel and craggy determination, but neither singer bears the stamp of distinction that would mark a true star. Where the group soars is in its advanced sense of harmony and balance, with each voice positioning itself in an ever-shifting dialogue. “Please Don’t Hurt Me,” from the Brothers’ excellent first album In the Spirit, is a prime example of this synthesis: a simple and affecting ode to the joys of musical communication.

More recently, “We Meet, We Part, We Remember,” from 2004’s Simple Truths, was an expression of longing so pure that it seemed to recapture everything we’ve lost in the decades since boy bands, synthesized pop and a hundred other forms of disaffection slowly eroded the classic vocal tradition. The group’s new release, State of Grace, boasts among other pleasures an intimate reading of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me.” Exuberant one moment, hushed the next, the Holmes Brothers have discovered a musical language all their own.

Jan. 16, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St. (betw. Astor Pl. & E. 4th St.), 212-967-7555; 7:30, $20.