It comes as no surprise that Rolling Stone and Time magazines have billed newcomers Lucius as one of the most important new bands to watch out for this year. The New York pop outfit has just released its debut LP, Wildewoman. Drawing on a vast range of influences, from folk to soul, Lucius has managed to assemble a memorable record rich in vocal harmonies and infectious pop, with the big production sound of 1960s girl groups.
The band is currently on tour in support of Wildewoman and on Friday, Nov 1 will play a show at the Garrison in Toronto. Listening to the record and taking into consideration the accolades from the press, it might be wise to catch them at this intimate venue before they truly take off.
“I think what we love most about a live situation is that we can connect to an audience, and we can feed off of their energy and vice versa,” explains co-founder and vocalist Jess Wolfe. “That’s really where we are most happy and most excited. The feedback has been wonderful. We never wanted to tour before we went on the road. We’ve only been touring for about a year and a half.”
Wolfe co-founded Lucius with fellow vocalist Holly Laessig when they were both students at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, but it wasn’t until the recording process was underway that the band became a cohesive unit.
“We started writing songs we wanted to dance to. We met Danny, who’s an engineer and producer, and he’s the drummer in our band now. We had a bunch of people come and play on the record,” Wolfe says. “One of those people was Pete, and about a year and a half later Andy came on board. The band was formed through the recording process. We’d never played a live show before. It was sort of a backwards attempt at forming a band.”
Lucius performs Fri, Nov 1 at The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St W. $14.50. rotate.com, ilovelucius.com
Why you can trust Xtra
