LEISURE BIRDS
 photo by Sean McKenna |
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Down The Drain from Copper Scroll - Fall 2010
Crawling out from the primordial muck of rhythm and reverb, Leisure Birds concoct a hallucinatory brew of squealing keyboards, thumping floor-toms, stabbing guitars, chant-like vocals and sinuous basslines. Hailing from Minneapolis, Leisure Birds sound like a lost artifact of the first psychedelic era; the British Invasion meeting swamp boogie along the muddy banks of the Mississippi.
Born out of the demise of two of Minneapolis' cherished rock institutions—syncopated whiskey-throat bawlers Thunder in the Valley and the blaze-of-jubilant-loose that was Hockey Night—Leisure Birds first hit the stage in May of 2008 featuring Jake Luck (Thunder In The Valley, GAYNGS) on vocals, keys and percussion, Nick Ryan (Thunder In The Valley, GAYNGS) on guitar, Cory Carlson (Private Dancer) on bass and Alex Achen (Hockey Night) on the drums. They've played the historic First Avenue mainroom as one of the Twin Cities’ “Best New Bands,” ranked near the top of City Pages’ annual “Picked to Click” list, and had their only released output, the track “Burn the Beach” favorably reviewed by Pitchfork Media. Jake and Nick also contributed to the widely-praised project of Minneapolis producer and TGNP co-founder Ryan Olson, Relayted by GAYNGS (Jagjaguwar), and Jake took part in the band's national tour which culminated with a performance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
With the Totally Gross National Product release of their debut album, Copper Scroll, out in fall of 2010, Leisure Birds are finally ready to take their weird American brand of psych far above the terrestrial tree-line.
LINKS
- Pitchfork Media review of Regolith Vol. 1
"The psych-rock underground in the Twin Cities, it appears, is alive and well"
- Full band interview in Minnesota Daily
- Tiny Mix Tapes interview with Jake Luck
- Citypages interview with Jake Luck
Glitterboxxx Party! from Dan Huiting on Vimeo.
First Avenue's Best New Bands Showcase 2009 from Dan Huiting on Vimeo.
