Waking Lights

"I cannot help but highly praise Songs for Jo and compare it to fine art... For the young talents that make up this band, Waking Lights succeeds in putting out an album that displays skills of a mature and accomplished musicians. Songs for Jo is truly and album of sophistication." - Angelica Castilio

With their first EP, Songs For Jo, behind them, Waking Lights will spend the holiday season touring through their home state of New Jersey and some Brooklyn outposts. That self-released EP, which came out in late September, melds classical strings and piano with indie rock bass and drums. - CMJ.com

"Waking Lights prove that they are a band that knows what works for them, and they make every song sound perfect in their hands... Songs for Jo is a pocket full of sunshine when the skies appear dark and gloomy. It is an album that is middle of the road making it able to reach people of different creeds, nationalities, and music genres. It is an album that joins the world together as the band finds a middle ground where everyone can meet." - Absolutepunk.net

"The nascent sextet immediately hit upon a compelling and unique sound that at times could be called an English-language Sigur Ros, at others a more orchestral Smashing Pumpkins (when Billy Corgan was at his ballad-penning best.)" - The Devil Has The Best Tuna

"Waking Lights delivers lush arrangements amid pop tunes about ice cream, Vicodin and sharks on debut EP Songs For Jo." - nerdy-frames.org

"Mix a bit of the sound of Sigur Rós and a bit of the vocal stylings of The Verve and it will sound much like New Jersey's Waking Lights. Featuring a compelling folksy-pop-soft rock sound on their first EP, Songs For Jo, you can't help but believe this band has hit on something very special. Wonderfully-flowing orchestrals combined with spirited vocals... A very addictive and soulful sound, something you'll find stays with you after listening. Highly recommended."
- Local Verticle

"Their Songs For Jo EP show a band maturing into one of those bands who are capable of writing massive stadium fillers as if it were second nature... It's truly an amazing feat for any band to be able to pass off six songs that have that capability but Waking Lights have managed to do just that on Songs For Jo. One can't but think of the word epic when listening to this little record, but really no other word can describe how large this record wants to be... For a band that sees itself as just another rock and roll band, they're so much more. Songs For Jo is a huge record that achieves so much more than Waking Lights could have ever hoped for. This is truly good stuff that will play with your emotions." - First Coast News/ Paul POP!

"The Waking Lights might be making some of the most beautiful songs to come out of the New Jersey tri-state area since Born To Run. Like some kind of distant cousin to Elliot Smith or Grant Lee Phillips, their EP Songs For Jo is six tracks worth of exceedingly lush poetics; worth its weight in songwriting and melody. If this is the beginning, the journey is likely to be a memorable one." - PodFlash.net

“With their first folksy EP “Songs for Jo,” Waking Lights, a six-piece indie rock outfit from northern New Jersey is definitely a band to watch out for.” - The Ticker