Leaving Springfield

City Life Review


Jarret Keene of the Las Vegas City Life Magazine reviewed our debut EP on the August 9-15 issue. Here's what he had to say about "Pretty Skinny and Blonde."

" Kessler and Norcross have managed to fashion the best end-of-summer rock tune I've ever heard. Pretty Skinny and Blonde is an anthem so sunny, you can almost smell the coconut oil emanating from your speakers. A perfect mix of guitars, synths, and drums, the song sports a wicked melody that'll stick to your head like chewing gum"- Jarret Keene City Life Magazine August 9-15 2007
- Jarret Keene of the Las Vegas Citylife Magazine

Las Vegas Weekly Review


Leaving Springfield self-titled EP 3.5 stars out of 5

" To say that guitarist Brent Kessler and drummer Matt Norcross play pop-rock is nearly an insult to the Now That We're Famous vets. There's a strong Foutains of Wayne influence- particularly in the clap-happy "Negative Attention" and the earnestly wistful "Pretty Skinny and Blonde"-but there's also a windblown,classic-rock timelessness that has zero tolerance for pretension or latching onto the latest trends. Then there's the name; perhaps a subtle reference to growing pains, passing seasons and fading glory? If so, it's an excellent match for the duo's themes. If not, it's a helluva better moniker that Fall Out Boy.- Julie Seabaugh Las Vegas Weekly August 30- September 5, 2007
- Julie Seabaugh Las Vegas Weekly

Vegas Rocks Music Issue


Vegas Rocks September issue was devoted to Las Vegas' local music scene. Leaving Springfield was picked by Jarret Keene as one of Vegas' next "Big Thing" here's what he wrote:

" Three of my best bets for Next Big Thing status in Las Vegas are Big Friendly Corporation, Searchlight and Leaving Springfield..."

"Leaving Springfield consists of vocalist/guitarist Brent Kessler and vocalist/drummer Matt Norcross, This band isn't as consistent in terms of material, But it's got something Big Friendly Corporation and Searchlight may be missing- namely, a secrect weapon of a smash-hit song called "Pretty Skinny and Blonde" that, if it ever lands on radio playlists, will be impossible to remove from the airwaves. Think of Leaving Springfield as the perfect blend of The Cars, Weezer and Foutains of Wayne with just a little dash of Cheap Trick. When this band is clicking on all cylinders, power-pop doesn't sound any better. give Leaving Springfield a few more months to fashion some new material, and they'll be leaving the Las Vegas music competition in the dust. "

Thanks to Jarret Keene and Vegas Rocks Magazine

Leaving Springfield

BK&Matt
- Vegas Rocks September

The kids are all right
Underrated local rockers Leaving Springfield find a fan base that's devoted if small -- height-wise
Kansas and Missouri expats Leaving Springfield haven't yet made it into the highest regions of even local rock radar, which is a shame for a band that's been playing and contributing steadily to a Vegas scene for the last two-and-a-half years.

The duo's 2008 debut full-length, And Leave All This Behind, surprised listeners expecting yet another formulaic punk-pop snore-a-thon, and it did so by serving up that old recognizable emo pain, yes, but with a rare and consistent sense of humor that saved it from sinking into the self-absorption that's fatal to most similar efforts. ("I don't understand why I can't be your man until you find another man," go the lyrics to that album's "Negative Attention"). The moving, the amusing and the hooks were all there and all got along beautifully together. Just released Tragic as We Speed Away opts for stage-ready rockification over the band's earlier studio density, but still retains the spirit.

Prior to a couple dates in Southern California and a June 11 Beauty Bar gig opening for Portland, Ore. dream-pop act Helio Sequence, singer-guitarist Brent Kessler and singer-drummer Matt Norcross -- both MGM Grand sound men and stage hands by day -- recently talked to CityLife about the challenge of being only two people, a somewhat disturbing listener demographic and the Vegas rock scene's need for an attitude adjustment.

CityLife: The new album feels less quirky, more radio-friendly than the first. Was that intentional?

Matt Norcross: No, not like we tried to go out and make it that way. And Leave All This Behind was a lot more of what Brent had already brought to the table when we first started playing together. This time, we wanted to kind of bounce stuff off each other a little more.

Brent Kessler: And try to keep it a little more dependent on what we can bring to the live show. Tragic isn't the same as the first album, but for every song that sounds like '[Love Smells Like] Avon and Cigarettes,' you're gonna have a "Lost." We debated putting "Lost" on there because it's a little different from the rest of the album, but it's the one people are talking about. Surprised us both.

CL: Seems like it was a good idea. It does break things up some.

MN: Exactly.

BK: The bad part is, we have to figure out how to play it live. [laughs] We didn't think it would get the response it has. So that's next week's project.

CL: What are you doing in the way of backing tracks when you play live?

MN: Nothing. It's 100 percent us.

BK: Yeah. I do use a guitar pedal that adds [bass note versions] of what I'm already playing, but yeah, we're trying to keep it basic. Actually, "Lost" might have some kind of keyboard or sequencer track. We're trying to debut that one at Beauty Bar.

CL: It's just not easy being a two-piece.

MN: Yeah, but people are surprised all the time that we are. It's like, 'You got a lotta gear!'

BK: That's mostly my fault. I have ego problems, so I compensate by bringing out a shitload of boxes and it looks like KISS showed up.

CL: So who's showing up to shows? Are you guys finding your fans to be any different from the ones who come out to see the other pop-rocky acts?

BK: The kids go crazy for it. We do get people who are much older who still have the same problems we have, or never dealt with them. I haven't dealt with my junior high school issues, so I still feel good singing about them 'cause they still bother me. But the kids go crazy.

CL: Maybe part of it's that you guys have such a friendly sound, very approachable. Kind of Weezer-y, or almost They Might Be Giants with some of the whimsical lyrics and vocals.

MN: Well, I think that, out there, there's so much ... well ...

BK: We're not angry.

MN: That's it. We're really not.

BK: We may be disillusioned, disenfranchised and mad that, you know, no chicks asked us to the Sadie Hawkins dance, but we're not angry like the, "Aw man, my life sucks, ahhh! I hate my parents, ahhh!" thing.

MN: We both have day jobs, we're employed, and then we get to go out and do this for fun. There's really no reason to be pissed off.

CL: Do you think that's a problem with the local scene?

BK: I think a lot of people think every venue should hire every kind of band, and that's not gonna happen. But the worst thing we run into is bands booked at a venue who don't show up at all. Or own a watch. We had a really strong music scene in the Midwest. Bands showed up, did their sets until it was time for the next band to come up.

CL: More of a mutual respect thing?

BK: I don't know if those bands respected each other that much, but they respected themselves. It wasn't this, "Oh, I don't have a cable. Oh, I don't have strings.'"

MN: You gotta look at this as a job. A privilege. Not this, "I'm such a tortured soul I can't bring my guitar case." I mean, come on.

BK: There are so many good bands in town, but I kind of wish the clubs were more selective. I see bands and think, "With a little more forethought, you could come out here and knock us on our asses." It kills me.

CL: And then all that forgetting and whining screws with the start times.

BK: At Neon Reverb [Downtown Music Festival], we were supposed to go on at 11:30. Ended up being about 1:30. Bless the fans who stuck around.

MN: Often, you end up playing to the bartender. The fans you told "11:30" leave early and you can only say "sorry" so many times before it takes time to rebuild that trust.

BK: We're supposed to go on about 10:30 at Beauty Bar.

MN: And on June 28, we've got an all-ages gig at Gallo's Pizza. I love the energy at the all-ages shows.

CL: Especially since you're big with the 13-year-olds?

BK: [laughs] We and Miley Cyrus have the same crowd, which is just disturbing.

MN: My 3-year-old knows all our songs.

BK: Yeah, we'll get these things on MySpace like, "I love you guys, you're fantastic!" and we're like, "Cool, where'd you find out about us?" ... "My third grade teacher told us about you!" Oh great, I'm a perv now. You feel bad 'cause you were on the computer in your pajama bottoms.

Leaving Springfield (with Helio Sequence, Lazystars and Study Band) plays June 11 at Beauty Bar. $10. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/leavingspringfield.

Dave Surratt, dsurratt@lvcitylife.com
Taken from the Citylife Magazine for June4-11th 2009 - Dave Surratt/Citylife Magazine

Leaving Springfield

March 20, 2008
by Julie Seabaugh
Las Vegas Weekly- March 20,2008


[Local]
Leaving Springfield
And Leave All This Behind
*** 1/2

Front-loaded pop trifles like "Whatsamatta You," "Pretty, Skinny, and Blonde," "Negative Attention" and "Leela" are certainly competent and catchy, but it’s once vocalist/guitarist Brent Kessler and vocalist/drummer Matt Norcross break from the Fountains of Wayne mold near the middle of their debut full-length that things get interesting. Here you’ll find harder, darker and more atmospheric cuts like "Runaway with You," "Burn Alive" and a momentum-building oath called "I Will Follow You" that nearly evokes peak-era Better Than Ezra. Behind is brimming with harmonies and interesting instrumental flourishes, but it’s also packed with promise. If the title refers to impending adulthood, it might be just the life change the duo needs most. - Las Vegas Weekly

City Life Review of New CD


LAS VEGAS CITYLIFE

March 27-April 2, 2008

Someone sent us these section



What makes 21st-century emo so jack-ass lame? Emotion isn’t the problem. The problem is emotion presented without humor or levity -- the ketchup and ranch that make palatable even rock’s most self-obsessed messes. Two-member Leaving Springfield (www.myspace.com/leavingspringfield) brings a basket of pain and condiments to their full-length picnic And Leave All This Behind, bless their wounded, Weezer-y souls. Singer/guitarist Brent Kessler’s fearless nasality on the mic announces an instantly friendly, anti-hip product, while the transition between "Negative Attention" ("I don’t understand why I can’t be your man/ until you find another man") and the next bittersweet affair, "Run Away With You," makes for one of the best song pairings Vegas has ever heard from its own. Come to think of it, there’s not a bad track in this masterfully hooky collection.

Dave Surratt, dsurratt@lvcitylife.com
- LAS VEGAS CITYLIFE

http://rockingcomedyshow. com

Episode #50 - Crazy Jay