Band: Lucius
Members: Holly Laessig, Jess Wolfe, Danny Molad, Peter Lalish and Andrew Burri
From: Brooklyn, New York
Their sound: Laessig’s and Wolfe’s voices melt into a single, cathartic lilt that recalls the unvarnished crooning of Emmy Lou Harris. The band’s forthcoming album, Wildewoman, preserves their signature ’60s-pop sound while exploring a range of bedroom-pop harmonies.
3-Minute Bio: The group, as it stands now, is a mere two years old, but Laessig and Wolfe have been writing and singing together for more than seven years. The pair began collaborating while students at Boston’s famed Berklee School of Music. As serendipity would have it, the house-hunting pair stumbled upon Bromley House, a more than 60-year-old recording studio and former music school in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Ditmas Park. It was here—along with access to residual recording equipment and instruments like a grand Steinway piano from 1921—a budding band would find its sound (and for Wolfe, her husband Molad).
That sound has emerged into what Laessig and Wolfe refer to as a “machine,” with each wheel and cog working to create a cacophony of punchy beats layered with the duo’s symmetrical sound. Just as the two mirror each other vocally, Lucius promises an equally engaging and paralleled live performance. Laessig and Wolfe have taken to dressing identically, providing a visual representation of what they’re creating for the audience. “It’s dressing the sound more than ourselves,” says Wolfe.
“We both struggle to sing alone at this point,” Laessig says, recounting the decision to sing in unison as a “happy accident” that came while working on songs together. “It’s just not as familiar at this point.”
Indeed, that climatic synchronized sound has drawn a variety of plaudits from Rolling Stone to NPR for their stint at this year’s SXSW.*
Lucius’s debut album is scheduled for an October 15 release on Mom+Pop records, but the band is making plenty of appearances throughout the summer and fall. Check out tour dates below and sample songs from the forthcoming album:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEdpjAOggu0]
14 AUG Music Hall of Williamsburg – Brooklyn, NY
16 AUG Rocky Mountain Folks Fest – Lyons, CO
22 AUG Founder’s Brewing – Grand Rapids, MI
23 AUG The Bishop – Bloomington, IN
25 AUG The Vic – Chicago, IL
28 AUG The Echo – Los Angeles, CA
29 AUG Brick and Mortar Music Hall – San Francisco, CA
07 SEPT Boston Calling – Boston MA
08 SEPT Pinkney Park – Rowayton, CT
21 SEPT Utopiafest – Utopia, TX
17 OCT Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
19 OCT The Earl – Atlanta, GA
20 OCT 3rd & Lindsey – Nashville, TN
21 OCT The Duck Room, Blueberry Hill – St. Louis, MO
24 OCT 7th Street Entry – Minneapolis, MN
25 OCT Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
27 OCT White Rabbit Cabaret – Indianapolis, IN
29 OCT The Ark – Ann Arbor, MI
01 NOV The Garrison – Toronto, CA
02 NOV Divine Orange – Montreal, CA
03 NOV Higher Ground – Burlington, VT
08 NOV Festival Les InRocks – Tourcoing, FR
09 NOV Festival Les InRocks – Paris, FR
10 NOV Festival Les InRocks – Nantes, FR
12 NOV Festival Les InRocks – Toulouse, FR
14 NOV Crossing Border – Enschede, NL
15 NOV Crossing Border – The Hague, NL
17 NOV Crossing Border – Antwerp, BE
20 NOV The Shacklewelll Arms – London, UK
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/92029636″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
*Correction appended: August 14, 2013, 4:35 p.m. E.T. This article originally stated that Lucius is performing at Radiolab’s Apocalyptical fest this fall. The band recorded two songs for Radiolab and was featured for another live recording from the Solid Sound Festival.