The Future Laureates At Subterannean 5/12/12

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When I did an interview with The Future Laureates at the beginning of April, Danny Surico said something I didn’t quite grasp at the time. He said, “We’re a pop band, but I want our shows to have the energy of a punk show.” At the time that seemed impossible-postpunk maybe, but not a real down and dirty CBGB’s in the 70’s type punk show. Saturday night, as if trying to prove me wrong, the band put on one of the most electric shows I’ve seen in a while, with Danny doing everything short of cutting his body up with shards of glass on stage.

The show was sold out, and you could easily tell that everyone in the crowd was there for the main attraction. Thanks a lot Tree and Cobalt & The Hired Guns. You’re cool, but the quicker you get off stage, the sooner we can get this party started. It was nice to see that members of the audience included some of Future Laureates fellow Chicago Roots Collective family like Trevor Jones of Molehill and Kristina Priceman of Mike Mangione And The Union (who joined the band on violin for a couple songs). The section of the room I was in, about four feet from the stage on the right, was filled with family and friends of the band, as well as the James Hyde cheering section. Continue reading “The Future Laureates At Subterannean 5/12/12”

The Future Laureates-Fortress Sessions

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When The Future Laureates first released their debut full-length, Your Mom Would Like Us, it was easy to write it off as silly pop music in the vein of Presidents Of The United States Of America. Over the years since then, they’ve matured as songwriters and as a band. They still write a lot of fun music, but they dig a little deeper and add more complexity to their tunes. They remain one hundred percent a pop band, but they’d be more in line with a Matchbox Twenty-type band (love em or hate em, Rob Thomas writes damn fine pop songs).

They stake their claim right out of the gate on “Galahad’s Song.” It kicks off with a piano chord progression that reminds me of a Lionel Richie song, but then Matt Daigler’s voice comes in. Before you know it there are harmonies, horns, guitar solos, and then a trippy breakdown. The song is about how life is a journey and you have to be ready for anything. The final line of the song is “Come on let’s go,” as if the band is inviting us to travel along with them. Continue reading “The Future Laureates-Fortress Sessions”