“Lo-fi, brash and loud as hell, the Chicago band's latest record proves that they can still write slick and sinister rock.”- AOL/ Spinner
“The Laureates stick to their strengths – rough-and-tumble garage rock with a power pop sheen. The songs on Spells are energetic and wild, but the band never lets things get too out of hand.”- Loud Loop Press
“Undeniable!”- Casy Meehan, Chicago Mix Tape
AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD HERE STARTING TOMORROW
http://www.candydinner.com/
THE LAUREATES ARE PLAYING TONIGHT AT SCHUBAS
http://www.schubas.com/Shows/
SPELLS IS STREAMING AT AOL SPINNER THIS WEEK
http://music.aol.com/new-
The Laureates’ second LP, Spells is drumming up plenty of attention for what Spinner is calling “slick and sinister rock.” The resounding response has been an enthusiastic endorsement of the always punchy and ambitious rock from the Chicago four-piece. Today, the band announced that in addition to 12" vinyl, Spells will also be available for free digital download from Chicago’s hot-spot website for free music, Candy Dinner.
Front-man, Chad Preston had this to say about making the album available for free: "We pressed some LPs for this release because we love vinyl and fans like owning the physical artifact, but we also wanted to make sure people could easily find digital copies of the record. Since everyone is stealing music these days, we thought we would just offer a free download at Candydinner.com, for those who buy the LP or just want to check out the songs."
The Laureates just returned from a mini-tour from Iowa City to Cincinnati, stopping through the Daytrotter studios to record a session (posting date to be announced soon). The band has also added a show at Schubas to their album release celebrations, playing tonight with Sergio Leone and Sleeper Agent. The band has a music video and more shows to be announced soon.
About The Laureates-
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 (also in Paul Cary’s band, guitar/organ) 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 Tight Phantoms’ 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.
About Candy Dinner- (From http://www.candydinner.com/
In the ever increasingly digital world (or rather, almost completely and totally digital world?) many record labels are finding it difficult to adapt. Yes of course some savvy labels have a strong following, but a lot of labels that relied on CD sales are gone or struggling to reinvent themselves. After all, it's expensive and time consuming to produce and market music. In response a lot of artists are going totally DIY and selling their music on itunes, MySpace or via other online means, but so can a bazillion other bands. Often times these bands become a needle in a haystack. Candy Dinner is a small community of artists that want to distribute their music without having to rely on record labels and all the Jazz that might go with that. We don't really offer financial or PR support though we do make an effort to promote our roster through various means. Candy Dinner is simply a curated free distributor of music. Our main motive is to encourage people to not worry about getting their music out to listeners.
