Flugel / Love in October / Family Of Geniuses
Chop Shop
∙
Chicago
Friday, January 17 at 8 pm CST
Serves Food
Outdoor Patio
Lounge
Concert Venue
Bar
Rooftop
Friday, January 17 at 8 pm CST
Serves Food
Outdoor Patio
Lounge
Concert Venue
Bar
Rooftop
Details
Description
Flugel / Family Of Geniuses / Love in October at Chop Shop
Friday, January 17th
Doors: 8PM | Show: 9PM | 18+
$9 (includes all fees)
__________
www.flugelmusic.com
Flugel can be considered a band of random occurrences. Following two inspiring trips to West Africa, frontman Tommy Moore was inspired to transport the rhythms he learned into the pop world. Shortly after his move to Chicago, drummer Kyle Therriault met Tommy by happenstance through a comment thread on Reddit. To finalize the impromptu creation of the group, Tommy discovered that childhood bandmate, Michael Grathwohl, had unexpectedly relocated from North Carolina to Chicago, complementing the band’s fervor. After playing initiatory shows around the city, they connected with Packy Lundholm of I Fight Dragons to lend his production prowess, becoming the binding to Flugel’s notebook of ideas.
www.soundcloud.com/familyofgeniuses
Formed in 2017, initially as a songwriting/production outlet by Augustine Rampolla, Family Of Geniuses quickly evolved into a diverse collective of artists and collaborators primarily based in Chicago, IL.
The result of Family Of Geniuses’ array of personalities and musical influences is an eclectic, yet familiar, pop sound and a live show with a rock-and-roll energy. One review of their first performance in Boston, MA summed up this sentiment quite well, describing Family Of Geniuses as “disco-boogie meets funky new-wave punk”.
Since making their live debut in June 2017, Family Of Geniuses have already performed all across America, Japan and England. Additionally, their debut 7” single, was released in June 2018 by the boutique funk/nu-disco label, Star Creature Universal Vibrations.
With a focus on catchy hooks and danceable rhythms, the sound of Family Of Geniuses exists somewhere within the collision of bright lights and spinning disco balls, casting reflections of incessant grooves and addictive melodies across audiences everywhere.
www.loveinoctober.com
Though based out of Chicago, the indie rock outfit Love in October can easily trace its roots back to Sweden. Erik Widman (vocals, guitar) relocated from his native Sweden to Michigan in 2000 to attend college, his brother Kent (bass) following him out there two years later. In 2006, both relocated again together, this time to Minneapolis, where the longtime musical partners started up a new project entitled Love in October. The band was rounded out by a revolving door of various members in the early days and initially had a power pop sound to their music.
They eventually entered the studio with producer Ed Rose (The Get Up Kids, The Casket Lottery, Motion City Soundtrack) to record their debut EP. The resulting Words of Sound appeared in late February 2007 via the Musik Group. In addition to just songwriting, however, Love in October further enjoy the visual arts, taking time to produce short films and music videos for themselves, and they garnered a healthy amount of online buzz for the video for their single "A Day in the Life Of." The video and song even earned the band a Best Music on Campus nomination for the 2007 MTVu Woodies, the awards handed out by the college-oriented arm of MTV.
The band released a series of self-titled EPs between 2009-2011 as their sound evolved to an indie pop sound inspired by bands like Tokyo Police Club and Swedish indie rockers Bob Hund. The band went on hiatus in 2011 as the Widman brothers shifted their attention to dance music and formed Eight Bit Tiger, their electronic alter ego to Love in October. Erik returned to Sweden in 2012 for academic pursuits, but the brothers would perform in the US and Sweden as Eight Bit Tiger over a five year period and release two full-length albums. Despite not being musically active, Love in October's music continuously appeared in national TV advertisements for Converse shoes, Red bull, Forever 21, Fruit of the Loom and Monster Energy Drinks.
In 2016 the silence was broken as the Widman brothers release Love in October III, a four-song EP that reimaged the Love in October sound, replacing their drummer with a drum machine and opting for a more lo-fi sound than previous albums. Their single Teenage Evolution became an internet favorite and introduced the band to many new fans. The success of the EP inspired the band to make a push for a full-length album and take their new lo-fi sound to the next level. Erik returned to the US in 2017 and was transitioning back to his life in Chicago. In November 2018 the band united with guitarist Chris Limerinos, who previously played with the band from 2010-2011, and started writing songs about the transition that not only the band was going through, but the US was also going through.
The result was SHAPES, the band's most cohesive and focused effort to date, where the band reflects on the state of the world, love, memories, uncertainty and the future. The sound is a crunchy 1980s LinnDrum mixed with lo-fi guitar hooks taking inspiration from bands like The Strokes. Occasional moments of Pixies, early Modest Mouse, and Nirvana weave their way in and out of the album. Songs like Surf Rock City and Late Night paint an abstract picture using long brush strokes of the struggles of love, while I Stopped Caring is an obvious slap in the face to the narcissism of president Trump and I Don't Want To Die Tonight captures the daily panic that we all feel from the pressures of the world. There are also less serious moments with songs like I'm Here, You're There and Stuck where the band hams it up at times and mixes 60s rockability and Motown bass lines with indie rock. The album closes with Wasting My Time, a Modest Mouse inspired song that surprises the lister and keeps us guessing what the band's next move will be.