Pitstop: Lucius

"You've never seen Lucius before? You're in for a real treat."

These words, spoken to me by Conveyor guitarist Alan, were my only warning before I was ushered completely uninitiated into the fantastic siren song of the she-beasts of Lucius. Donned in matching black dresses, knee-high boots, and bows in their hair, the synchronized style of Lucius' Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig is enough to throw you off the trail of their absolutely awe-striking vocals. As I watched them at their most recent gig at Cameo for Deli Magazine's Best Emerging Artists Fest, I was massively unprepared for what I would witness. Elaborately constructed, infectious and highly memorable pop-songs, the girls and their band of three similarly dressed gentlemen were a veritable force of nature. Each and every aspect mindbogglingly amazing - from their onslaught of percussion (almost each member had their own snare drum), their bewildering powerhouse vocals that exploded from the females with an intensity that was nothing sort of overwhelming, and a clearly talented band which helped frame it all. No one part overtook the other and yet, the girls vocals cut clear through all everything straight toward the audience's hearts and ears. Every man and woman at the show no doubt left a little more in love with Lucius than when they arrived.



Recording-wise Lucius are almost a completely different beast. Restrained but no less ear-catching, no less crush-inducing, their recently released self-titled EP is a far quieter taste of the Brooklyn band in a short but sweet set of four tracks. Sparse but not empty arrangements spotlight the gals uncomfortably good vocal chops while hitting a rather diverse palette of ideas and sounds from folk and 60s Spector pop ("Don't Just Sit There") to sassy noise pop a la Treats-era Sleigh Bells with far less actual noise ("Genevieve") with jazzy ornaments  thrown in for good measure, the girls manage to blend all these together to create an undeniably great style that's endearingly hard to explain. And with a more permanent roster of members like guitarist Peter Lalish and Dan Molad on drums, the band's clearly only going to get better and more dynamic in their recordings.



Did you hear that? Lucius have arrived and every band should quake a little in their shoes. Lucius, with their tempting blend of raw talent, insane live energy, and knack for pitch-perfect pop of the best kind, just might steal your fans away.

Get a taste of Lucius with their live version of "Don't Just Sit There" for The Wild Honey Pie:


You can grab Lucius' self-titled EP on iTunes as well as listen to on Spotify.