Laureates
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Laureates

Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF

Chicago, Illinois, United States | SELF
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This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Album Review: More Drive"

“While The Laureates have been kicking around for a few years (largely just around their hometown of Chicago), we didn’t come around to them until this spring, when ‘Don’t Lose Your Cool,’ a digital single released in advance of their second full-length, Spells, first turned our heads. Full of swagger and muscle, it sounded kind of like classic blue-eyed soul reimagined by a post-millennial indie rock mind that probably had witnessed the Britpop era firsthand. Timeless stuff, basically, with a stomping beat and a chorus that could’ve been either a plea or a threat. That sound pops up a few times throughout the course of Spells (out now on vinyl on Funambulist Recording Co. and digitally via Candy Dinner), but the surprise is that this is mostly a kickin’ garage rock record, recalling that period just when the garage was starting to become psychedelicized. The guitars spar against each other, twang vs. fuzztone, in a celebration of open-chord bashing tempered by occasional vocal harmony lines and well-placed keyboards. But what’s particularly engrossing about this album is the band’s restraint and control, which actually makes the whole thing a little more menacing. It’s obvious without even looking at a photo of the band that these guys are grownups: The musicianship is spot-on and the dynamic lived-in, and singer Chad Preston’s tenor has both the mature low-end response and the command of adulthood — it’s the voice of the kinda guy you’d want on your side in a bar fight.

The Laureates haven’t announced plans to venture particularly far from Chicago anytime soon, but if this description sounds like your bag and/or you want a fitting soundtrack for summer’s hundred-yard stare at the approaching fall, you can download Spells in its entirety for free from Candy Dinner right now.” - More Drive Blog


"Album Review: Broken Hearted Toy"

“Note: This review previously appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.

The Laureates might have an elitist name but there’s no denying they elevate the art of garage rock on their second full-length CD. The 10 songs on Spells only take up a little over a half hour, but none of them feel short-changed. Well-crafted arrangements frequently burst into instrumental passages featuring the Chicago-based band’s intriguing blend of guitar styles.

Recorded during a year when The Laureates were also releasing a cover tune each month on their website, the CD often harks back to the original British Invasion. The social satire of ‘Life Of Leisure’ evokes The Kinks while ‘Changes, ETC’ exerts the power of The Who. Lead singer Chad Preston doesn’t vary his approach much, but the band backs him with ethereal harmonies, and his talky, melancholy vocals are well-suited to songs’ off kilter lyrics. ‘Robbers,’ a tale of homicidal thieves, is set to a Beatlesque arrangement, while the mutual paranoia of ‘Monitor Me’ bristles with punk intensity. Already critically acclaimed for their debut, There Are No More Gentlemen, The Laureates have beaten the sophomore jinx in style. - Broken Hearted Toy


"Album Review: babysue"

“We don’t normally review CD-Rs…but in this case there’s no actual physical CD as Spells is only being officially released on vinyl and as a digital download. If there’s one word we could use to sum up this band’s sound that word would be…unpretentious. Instead of clobbering their listeners over the head with complexity and technology, the folks in The Laureates offer a nice crisp clear dose of underground guitar driven pop. You won’t hear hundreds of overdubs here, the latest sampled sounds, or the coolest new synths. Rather and instead, these folks use the basics (guitar, bass, drums, vocals) to deliver their cool rhythm-driven pop/rockers. In terms of overall sound, what these guys are doing reminds us somewhat of The Feelies…but the songs themselves are markedly different. Lotsa cool guitar licks here and some really killer vocals that sound like it’s a real person (?!) singing. Cool rockin’ stuff…simply neat and totally hip.” - Babysue


"Chicago Reader reviews Spells"

“It makes me happy to see the ironic cover song begin to lose popularity with indie rockers. The concept’s condescending and full of quirk-for-quirk’s-sake bullshit and everything else that makes people hate hipsters—not to mention it’s completely tapped out humor-potential-wise. I’m guessing that not a single one of the dozen covers the Laureates recorded last year to give away on the Internet was ironically inspired. Their sources—Velvets, Yo La Tengo, Soft Boys—brought eccentric sonic visions to bear on sweetly simple pop structures, which is pretty much what the Laureates are up to, and if the remakes’ fealty to the original material laid the Laureates’ influences bare the group didn’t seem too embarrassed by it. The covers did well by their originators, and the new LP Spells does a good job of living up to their legacies. Recorded to an eight-track tape machine, the ten songs are noisy but uncluttered, bringing enough dirt and echo into the mix to keep things interesting but leaving the heavy lifting to the songwriting itself. As far as that goes, I’d put money on the wager that R.E.M. and Big Star were up for consideration for the covers project at one point or another, and although none of the songs jump out as obvious classics for the ages, I’m sure a lot of bands with similar inclinations could improve their shows by adding one to their set list.” - Chicago Reader


"Album Review: Chicago Sun Times’ “The Playlist”"

The Laureates, “Spells”
(Funambulist) ???

“A superb sophomore effort, this follow-up from Chicago pop-rock band the Laureates sounds like comfort food not only because of the smooth blend of ’60s rock and the ’80s bands that aped it (by track four, ‘Worry Worry Worry,’ we’re into some serious Paisley Underground revivalism) but because it was recorded on warm, fuzzy eight-track tape. Guitars jangle, but tightly, and the attitude is cool, but studied. Fans of the Smithereens or the Velvet Underground might find equal measures here to adore. (If only they were railing against capitalism, I’d think this was the second album we never really got from Manchester’s Easterhouse.) It’s bold and sinister and nervous and never quite settles down into a niche. Good stuff.” - Chicago Sun-Times


"Local Q&A: The Laureates; These garage rockers are neither poets nor gentlemen (nor sober)"

To clarify: Laureates singer Chad Preston doesn't expect the fame of an actual laureate--a person honored in their field, FYI--and he isn't trying to be clever like a poet laureate. In fact, the local rocker many times doesn’t even know what his songs mean when he writes them.

“There’s no intention to try to tell any kind of story or to set up a scene in a song,” says Preston from his place in Portage Park. “Usually the meaning, at least for me, comes out after I’ve written something. I listen to it and go, ‘Oh, yeah, maybe that makes sense. Maybe that’s what the song’s about.’”

Click here to listen to the Laureates' "Get Sensitive" on the Metromix blog on ChicagoNow.

That act-first, evaluate-later philosophy is fitting of the band’s sound, which Preston, 35, dubs “drunken garage pop.” On Friday the Laureates play a release show at Hideout for their catchy, ’60s-inspired EP, “No Kontrol,” which is fuzzier and rougher around the edges than the band’s previous full-length, 2008’s “There Are No More Gentlemen.” Furthering their whirlwind of material, the band also is posting one cover song for free download every month through 2010 (covered so far: the Velvet Underground and the Breeders).

You have a new song called “Beauty Spies.” That sounds like people who watch other people from behind the bushes.

I guess maybe you’re in a bar and you’re seeing some attractive ladies and you’re not spying on them but … there’s no real explanation for the title of the song.

Well, how can people know if they’re being normal or a creepy beauty spy?

Oh, I’m no expert in that. I would blow my cover immediately. I have no tips. We’re all in relationships anyway, so we probably shouldn’t even be talking about that kind of stuff.

It seems like the songs are meant to be abstract.

Some songs are more straightforward. In general I usually start with a title and then write lyrics to that title. I don’t sit around and write poetry or something.

How does the EP, “No Kontrol,” compare to your full-length album?

I think the biggest difference was the way we approached recording it. We wanted to do something a little noisier.

Why?

I think we thought in hindsight the full-length was kind of clean and maybe a little bit polite-sounding. So we wanted to do something just a little wilder. More echo and reverb and just a lower fidelity.

In your music, what’s something you have no control over?

I guess that would be people getting our records and coming out to the shows. We have no control over that.

You can’t order people to come?

No, we can’t do that. We’re not at that level yet where you can boss people around, I guess.

What makes your live show great?

[Laughs] Um, that’s a good question. We don’t do anything really different. We don’t wear costumes or anything. At the end of it we’re just kinda glad to pull it off sometimes.

Why?

I don’t know. When you’re playing live it’s a little different from recording. You can’t really control everything. You can have gear problems or maybe someone has too much to drink and they forget their parts. Little sloppy things; sometimes you can goof on a song or whatever. In the end we just hope to entertain people. At least not bore them.

How can you play drunken garage pop while sober?

Well, you know, maybe you’re not sober. There’s a difference between being sober and drunk. Well, not a difference. … It’s such a relative thing. You can have a couple of beers, two or three, and you’re loose and then you can play. It’s if you go over too many, then there are problems.

Your last album said there were no more gentlemen. Are the members of the Laureates not gentlemen?

[Laughs] I don’t know if we can include ourselves. We try to be, but I don’t know if gentlemen do well in rock music. You’re supposed to have low morals, right?

Is that right?

Classically speaking. I think there’s a lot of nice guys in music too. I would hope. You can count us in on that. We’re not a-holes or anything.

When people think of laureates, they probably don’t think of low morals.

Yeah, it sounds like we have a pretty high opinion of ourselves when we have that band name, right? But we literally pulled it out of the trash. It came out of a Chicago Reader article we found in a dumpster outside of our practice space.

Matt Pais is the Metromix music and movies producer. mpais@tribune.com
- Chicago Tribune - Metromix


"EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: The Laureates"

EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: The Laureates

The Laureates don't seem to believe in taking things easy. They just celebrated the release of their new EP No Knotrol over the weekend, and they're currently amidst a run of releasing a free MP3 cover song to fans every month throughout 2010. January found them putting their own spin on The Velvet Underground's "I Can't Stand It" and February's offering was the creeping Breeders nugget "Do You Love Me Now."

This month the band tackles "With A Girl Like You" by primordial garage stompers The Troggs and they are releasing it exclusively through Chicagoist for the first week of March! So snag it below and kick the week of with their raw guts-n-blood take on the tune.

MP3: The Laureates "With A Girl Like You"
- Chicagoist


"MP3 of the day"

The Laureates, 'Get Sensitive' -- Free MP3 of the DayPosted on Feb 23rd 2010 6:00AM by Mike Spinella Comments (1) Print EmailMore
Artist: The Laureates
Song: 'Get Sensitive'
Album: 'No Kontrol' [iTunes]
Sounds Like: The Hives, Delta 72

Download: 'Get Sensitive' (MP3) - Spinner.com


"The Laureates"

The Laureates’ bathed-in-reverb sound isn’t only intentional, it borders on an obsession. The Chicago quartet was forged in late 2005 when frontman Chad Preston set out to write a series of lo-fi songs, and he liked them so much he recruited a band to play them out live. The group strives to recreate “teenage years spent listening to the underground rock of the '80s and '90s and classic rock,” but a more apt description would be that it's just really passionate about blasting off galloping pop music with a punk-lite swagger. Regardless of what it's trying to emulate, the band is releasing a cover a month for free online. (The Velvet Underground and The Breeders have been honored thus far.) Here, The Laureates celebrate the release of their No Kontrol EP. - Onion AV Club


"Ghosts of Five Tunes’ Past: The Laureates"

Here’s another old Five Tunes list we never did anything with. This one’s from Chicago rockers The Laureates (who have some pretty sweet covers and a free EP over on their website).



Actually, I feel pretty bad about what I did to these dudes. I was going to include them in a feature I was working up for the AV Club Chicago, but the story ultimately got canned due to some site reworkings and general madness. So I’m sorry, Laureates, that I never ran that story or your Five Tunes list. Until now. The list was sent on Feb. 5, 2010.

- Five Tunes Blog


"MP3 At 3PM: The Laureates"

The Laureates have dubbed 2010 the “year of the covers,” because they are planning on recording and releasing a cover song for free download on their website every month. First up are the Chicago quartet’s takes on the Velvet Underground’s “I Can’t Stand It” and the Breeders’ “Do You Love Me Now,” which you can download below. But that’s not all. The band is also releasing a new EP, No Kontrol (Funambulist), on February 16, which will send the guys on a string of live performances, including East Coast dates in April.

“I Can’t Stand It” (download):


- Magnet Magazine


"Free EP from the Laureates"

Well, I may be in the minority here but I have never heard of The Laureates but they have a new EP out today called No Kontrol. In an effort to get us all to listen to it they are giving it away for "no dollars" and guess what? I listened to it, and it's worth the free download I guess. I has not made my ears bleed and I have also not thrown anything against the wall in anger. So on a day like today that means it's fucking amazing I guess.

Download HERE - Electric Moustache


"Chicagoist - 04.11.2008"

The Laureates pen '60s inspired pop with a new millennial sensibility. That is to say that while they wear their influences proudly on their buttoned lapels, they still sound utterly modern. Their forthcoming full-length, There Are No More Gentlemen, is all syncopated strumming and lackadaisical melodies, equal parts paisley and punk.

So forgive us if we form the mental image of four fresh faced kids in matching suits when imagining their live show, which is actually just about the exact opposite of what the band actually looks like, but we can't help ourselves. Especially on a track like "Nothing's Perfect" when singer Chad Preston's honeyed tenor is backed by a crooning chorus of "oohs" from his bandmates, and then punctuated by a swooning trumpet line.

These are the sort of tunes custom built for shimmying gals out of their miniskirts and boys out of their stovepipe slacks. - Chicagoist


"Seven Ten Twelve - 04.01.2008"

Weird how I listened to this, and was going to write a review that said (among other things) 'Interpol produced by Phil Spector.' Then, doing some background research into the band, I discover that Seven Inches (Everyday) said essentially the exact same thing.

The Laureates remind me when Uncle Bob took GBV down the hi-fi route, having pulled everything he could out of his basement recordings. As you may recall, many GBV loyalists rebelled against the slickness; if you go back to 'Do the Collapse' eight years later, the songs hold up (though, what you need from that era is the Hold on Hope ep, which is the best hi-fi thing Bob ever released).

That is to say, this single is about the songs, the hooks and the production. For a band of this genre, this sounds slick as snails, and these guys fall all over themselves to pile hook after hook into every song. - Seven Ten Twelve (http://sevententwelve.wordpress.com)


"Delusions of Adequacy - 02.22.2008"

The music of Chicago is perhaps more varied than any other city in America. Post rock, grunge, hardcore punk, jazz, blues, the Windy City is an anomaly in the wealth of talent that springs forth. Cutting to the center of it all are The Laureates, a new 4 piece with only a few shows and now a 4-song EP to speak of. By getting to the basics of rock and roll with a touch of early British influences their first foray into a recorded output is a fun and energetic burst with a surprising maturity.

Opening strong and improving until the end, the self titled 7" is a crash course in early garage rock and ends up somewhere around mid period Guided By Voices. Guitars are fuzzed out and the vocals are awash in reverb, the bass pulses along and cymbals crash all around. In the true spirit of old fashioned rock n' roll the lyrics aren't life changing- problem solving manifestos, more 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' than 'Village green Preservation Society.' Starting off with 'I Want To Miss You' the group bursts open with chords we've all heard many times before but you can't exactly say from where. It's classic Nuggets bliss with descending chords and half intelligible vocals.

Second track 'Witching Boots' keeps toes tapping with it's bouncy bass reminiscent of Ted Leo and the Pharmacists' 'Ballad Of The Sin Eater.' It manages to steer clear of the mod-punk lyricism of Leo however with the catchiest melody on the EP. 'Hello, Hello' is where we get into the Bee Thousand/Alien Lanes-era GBV with big crunchy power chords acquiescing to single note reverberations. A 3 note solo and a fade out later all it needs is a nonsensical title to make Pollard proud. The brief EP ends triumphantly with 'The Warm Son', a blistering opening if ever there was one.

There is a definite feel of yearning and angst but without the cocksure nature of most guitar based Midwestern bands. This is where The Laureates show they are wise beyond their young rock years. They aren't here to show their chops or wow you with flash, they are far more subtle than that. For a band with only a handful of gigs under it's belt there's a surprising amount of maturity to be found. Put down those OK Go CD's and pick yourself up this fine new 45 of real power pop rock.

-Matthew Smith - Delusions of Adequacy (http://www.adequacy.net)


"Roctober (Issue #44) - 01.2008"

Resonant, strong vocals anchor this marriage of 60's Brit jangle and modern indie rock, making this a bit of a joy. New bands take note: see...you are not required to get a whiny singer. - Roctober


"The Unblinking Ear - 12.26.2007"

The Laureates 'Witching Boots.' MP3s of all the songs from the Laureates' 4 song 7" EP are available for free on their website but I was so floored by this track I needed it in a hard format as well. Anytime I've played it for anyone since they've immediately perked up with 'Who is this?' Yes, it's that good. Go show them some love. - The Unblinking Ear (http://theunblinkingear.blogspot.com)


"Seven Inches Every Day - 12.03.2007"

The Laureates were kind enough to send me their latest single on Funambulist recording company. I finally got around to giving it a spin this weekend:

This could easily have been recorded a few decades ago in the wall of sound tradition of bands like The Crystals, in fact this opening riff on the first track "I want to miss you' reminds me so much of their track 'Then he kissed me' that it was one of those 'what's the name of that song' moments which, thanks to the internet only lasts a minute.

From there the EP keeps this 60's garage feel, complete with rhythm guitar lines, and chorus changes, and harmonizing. There is heavy reverb/echo on everything, including Chad's vocals, down to the drum kit. I like the distance vocally, placed somewhere in the middle of the mix and sounding a bit like an upbeat Paul Banks from Interpol, that deep, half talking, kind of holding back emotionally, saving it up to lay it on if and when it's called for.

It's not far from early Rolling Stones, or the Kinks, like 'Mother's little helper' when the distortion was novel and incorporated into little pop jems. The guitar on 'Hello, Hello' really reminded me specifically of 'Can't get no satisfaction' that up the scale chord and even blues-ish influenced riffs.

This recording lends itself perfectly to the seven inch format, I'm a huge fan of mini EP's like this where you can really get a feeling for the band. How they fit these 4 tracks on a single I still don't understand, they don't feel short, this is like one of those unearthed gems that collectors drool over finding a copy, a misplaced garage band like the Zombies that is mentioned repeatedly as influencing all kinds of people to pick up a guitar. It's stripped down, I'd believe it if you told me it was recorded fairly live in the studio. It's just successful rock period.

They reference the spectrum from The Jam and Spoon as independent contemporaries and I can hear that, the structures, the songwriting, and honest rock sound, no gimmicks. Witching Boots starts out with bass line which is joined by a fuzz guitar single string melody and another layer of guitar comes in over that. I like this two rhythm guitar sound, they're always working together. They never drown each other, they're both necessary. There isn't a lead, both working towards the same end, that arm windmill energy. Chad's vocals are echoed and in traditional wall of sound style, all the sounds bleeding into each other. There's a lot of capable harmonizing on all tracks, which at first I don't even think I noticed right away.

This single is an impressive first EP in this balanced, timeless sound. A modern take on the infancy of straight ahead rock and roll. - Seven Inches Every Day (http://7inches.blogspot.com)


Discography

- The Laureates EP (2007, Funambulist Recording Co.), 7" format, downloadable MP3s

- There Are No More Gentlemen (2008, Funambulist Recording Co.), CD, MP3

- No Kontrol EP (2010, Funambulist Recording Co.), MP3, CD

- Spells (2011, Funambulist Recording Co.), LP, MP3

Photos

Bio

The Laureates’ sound came together over a two-year span beginning in late 2005 after Chad Preston (vocals, guitar) had written and recorded a self-produced, lo-fi album throughout that year. Knowing that being in a band is always more fun, he went out to find people to play live and record some songs. He first found Crawfie Ward (bass) and Pete Gray (drums) who had played together previously in other projects. Adam Penly joined in early 2007 just in time to help support the release of the band’s first record, a self-titled 7” EP, released on its own label, Funambulist Recording Company.

After a number of local Chicago shows, the band recorded their first full-length album, There Are No More Gentlemen with Mike Lust at his Phantom Manor studio, and released it at the end of 2008, again on Funambulist. The songs on the record recall traces of childhoods spent listening to the underground rock of the ‘80s and ‘90s, and classic rock and roll heard on the radio in dad’s car, as if the band was pretending that Pixies and Pavement were contemporaries of The Beatles or The Who. The record’s modern approach to vintage rock and roll/pop songs (“equal parts paisley and punk” – Chicagoist) garnered positive reviews from around the blogosphere, with writers comparing the band’s music to Guided by Voices, Spoon, Interpol, The Jam, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks. The album saw some college radio play, charting on the CMJ 200.

Their third record, No Kontrol, was released digitally in February, 2010, via Funambulist Recording Company/Candy Dinner. The EP was recorded by Johnathan Crawford (Paul Cary, The Runnies, Tiger Bones, France Has the Bomb) in Chicago in the summer of 2009 at Leroy Bach’s home studio and at Clown Town. No Kontrol slightly tweaked the sound of There Are No More Gentlemen by adding a touch of lo-fi noise and reverb-ed abandon.

In April 2011, Chicago rockers, THE LAUREATES announced that their second full-length album, Spells, will hit the streets June 28, 2011 on 12” vinyl on the band’s own imprint, Funambulist Recording Company. In 2010, while the band recorded and released a cover every month as part of their “Year of The Covers” experiment, they also wrote and recorded another 10 original tracks with all the passion and grit expected of these Chicago favorites. Spells’ basic tracks were recorded by Johnathan Crawford on an 8-track tape machine at Catalyst in Chicago, and finished at Clown Town during the summer and fall.

The songs on Spells combine the crystalline, modern-pop sensibilities of their first album, There Are No More Gentlemen with the more echoed, vintage analog acoustics of the No Kontrol EP, producing an electrifying amalgam of the energies of their previous recordings. The new album finds the band straying from the 3-minute pop song formula on tracks such as “Life of Leisure” and “Moon Bitch,” the former starting out as a bouncy strut of sunshine-y pop before veering into darker psychedelic noise, and the latter closing out the album as a slow-burn vamp that brings to mind a marriage of Ziggy Stardust and Doolittle. The narrator on the menacing track, “Robbers” slips in and out of paranoid nightmares of both the sleeping and sleep-walking varieties while the drums shuffle along in concert with a Velvets-inspired guitar riff. But the record still retains The Laureates’ signature blasts of pop on songs like the anthemic “Changes, Etc.”, the angular “Don’t Lose Your Cool”, and the weary but bright-eyed “Oh, Delusion.”

Press, Radio and Reviews:

“The Laureates pen '60s inspired pop with a new millennial sensibility. That is to say that while they wear their influences proudly on their buttoned lapels, they still sound utterly modern. Their forthcoming full-length, There Are No More Gentlemen, is all syncopated strumming and lackadaisical melodies, equal parts paisley and punk. These are the sort of tunes custom built for shimmying gals out of their miniskirts and boys out of their stovepipe slacks.” - Chicagoist

“Interpol produced by Phil Spector...this sounds slick as snails, and these guys fall all over themselves to pile hook after hook into every song.” - Seven Ten Twelve

“Resonant, strong vocals anchor this marriage of 60's Brit jangle and modern indie rock, making this a bit of a joy.” - Roctober

“It's not far from early Rolling Stones, or the Kinks...when the distortion was novel and incorporated into little pop jems...this is like one of those unearthed gems that collectors drool over...It's just successful rock period.” - Seven Inches Every Day

“Opening strong and improving until the end, the self titled 7" is a crash course in early garage rock and ends up somewhere around mid-period Guided By Voices...The Laureates show they are wise beyond their young rock years. They aren't here to show their chops or wow you with flash, they are far more subtle than that.” - Delusions of Adequacy

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