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I came across this yesterday and was sold after listening to the first song. After such a strong start I was skeptical to continue through this, but found it to be a strong and thorough album. This has the quality of a Drive-By Truckers album, true-to-heart stories, raging riffs, and a little twang. If you download anything today, let this be it. - Your Third Ear
I’m going to jump on the mini bandwagon for the Urbana based band The Leadership. The reasons are that they are semi-local for me (at least they’re from Illinois), they play straight up rock with an edge, and they’re not afraid to mess with convention. Most notably in the song “Bring It Back” from the new album Frontiers, in that song and others, errant noise plays a surprisingly large role. Word is the band is pretty great live and aside from their own upcoming shows they will soon be opening for Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, Plants And Animals, and the Cold War Kids.
The 8 track album is available from Bandcamp for the wonderful price of free here. They’re playing Chicago Feb 25 at the Viaduct Theater. If I wasn’t such an old wuss I’d be there! - songsillinois.net
The other day someone messaged me to tell me about a great band they saw open up for Cymbals Eat Guitars. This is that great band.
Many, many of the tracks on Frontiers sound like old Wilco. And I LOVE old Wilco. “Cocaine” tastes on first listen like Deer Tick, These United States and the Henry Clay People. In short, they sound like a lot of under-appreciated young bands. Here’s hoping they break the curse and get the attention they deserve. - You Ain't No Picasso
New Chicago label Fox Den Records recommends The Leadership if you like The Hold Steady, Wilco, and The Black Keys. You know, I hear all that but I can’t stop thinking the band sounds like Steve Earle fronting Drive By Truckers. How cool is that, right?
We’ll, that’s how cool these guys sound. “Frontiers” is the debut from the Urbana/Chicago band and if I don’t stop listening to it as incessantly as I have this week, I won’t come up with anything else for this week’s show of new Chicago music on Local Anesthetic, this Sunday night at 7:30pm. But I will. In the meantime, dig the free downloads at the band’s site.
- Richard Milne - WXRT Chicago
Discography
Frontiers (2010, Self-Released)
Photos
Bio
The Leadership was born from changes. Longtime folkie Jonathon Childers traded in his acoustic to buy his firrst electric guitar. Jared Michael Park, a former drummer, stepped from behind the set to play the lead guitar. The rhythm section of Chris Jones and Zane Ranney ventured into the rock realm, coming from a local hip hop collective. The band found that they shared influences, notably classic FM rock radio such as Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, and Led Zeppelin. They also had a healthy dose of Wilco and My Morning Jacket to share, as well. They took what they liked and left the rest, injecting energy into Childers songs about life, love and the state of the union.
With the drop date less than a month away, The Leadership set to work on their debut album Frontiers. The band made the thrifty decision to self produce, saving their money for beer instead. Park slipped into the engineers chair, treating the studio as another instrument. The band tracked the basics, then found ways to incorporate new sounds into their vintageleaning songs. They did this by using a pile of rescued Casios, the heating vents, fuzz pedals, and sloweddown tape machines. The outcome is a set of songs filled with raw energy and honesty. Frontiers was released on December 9th, 2010 to a packed house and local acclaim.
The Leadership will be playing the Midwest and beyond in early 2011.
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