Yet another friend of mine has a band that is quickly gaining popularity, at least around Chicago.  Empires is a soulful “indie-rock” band that is getting a lot of attention lately.  They just released a full-length, for free mind you, and had their record release show which went excellent.  They vocals are easily my favorite part of this band because there is a lot of emotion behind them.  Some songs may sound like The Spill Canvas and I’m not going to say whether that’s a good or bad thing.  Take it as it is.  If you don’t like the rest of the album, I know you’ll like the intro track because it’s hard not to.

Empires - Spit The Dark

Download Empires Entire Full-Length “Howl” Free at Weareempires.com

I would be such a cheese if I posted my friends band on my first post for invisible limb, but I’m going to do it anyway because Why Intercept is a genuinely good band from Chicago. I personally have been waiting hear some new recordings for some time now and now that I have finally heard the album it is some pretty fantastic stuff. The album was produced and recorded by Paul Malinowski (ex-Shiner). This band is pretty much for fans of Russian Circles and Cave-In, circa Jupiter/Antenna. They are currently pressing hard copies and will be available shortly, just keep checking their myspace. The song posted is best exemplifies their sound.

Why Intercept - The Far Northwest

With their debut album Devestator, the Chicago rock band Star have written and recorded what appears to be an alternate soundtrack to the 2003 indie flick Lost in Translation.

The record’s twelve pop songs are so rich with atmosphere and mood that images of Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson laying in a hotel bed staring sadly at the ceiling might invade your imagination. This emphasis on texture & mood also turns one of the band’s potential weaknesses into a strength- singer Shannon Roberts’ reverb-drenched, indecipherable vocals fit right in here, avoiding the trap of becoming distracting. Behind Roberts’ light bursts of air, her bandmates Theodore Beck (bass/beats) and Scott Cortez (guitar) let their instruments echo and fuzz until they have formed a giant, slow moving wall of sound. This simple formula is the band’s successful foundation and they stick to it faithfully throughout the album.

In the end, if a few of the songs on Devestator sound a little similar it is because they are. However, people shouldn’t criticize Star for lack of variety; the mood and textures of their great walls of sound are what make Devestator a worthwhile trip. If the album had been released in 2002 perhaps Mrs. Sophia Coppola might have been tempted to steal it for her own exercise in mood & isolation.

http://www.myspace.com/lovelyrebelrecords

MP3s
Switchblade Heart
Pure Gold Reason