The Orwells playing @ Higher Ground TONIGHT
by Kate Leib on October 21, 2013
Posted in: Concert, Music, My Shows, Rock
If you’re on campus for fall break and you’ve got nothing planned for a tonight (10/21),
GO SEE THE ORWELLS AT HIGHER GROUND!!! Fueled by beer and angst, The Orwells are known for putting on a great live show that will leave you hoarse and in a state of sweaty nostalgia. So if you wanna be nostalgic in 10 years for that time you felt nostalgic at that Orwells show, you should go. Also, tickets are only $14 so it won’t (fall) break your budget.
Barely out of high school, The Orwells have developed both a mature sound and a healthy “fear of aging” as frontman Mario Cuomo sings on their slow burning track “Never Ever”. Their repertoire is based mostly in rowdy teenage anthems and they often smash their instruments in the tradition of the rebellious American youth. Hailing from the same Chicago suburb and high school, these five 19 year-old ruffians have a strong handle on the punk and rock n roll greats of yesteryear and they aren’t afraid to flaunt it. For such a young group, The Orwells come on strong and unapologetic, sounding like modern amalgamation of the The Misfits, Sex Pistols, and The Rolling Stones among many other big names. Instead of shying away from comparisons out of fear of being called unoriginal, The Orwells aren’t caught up trying to reinvent the wheel.
On their new EP ‘Who Needs You’ they have no qualms admitting their influences, because they don’t need them as a crutch. Two out of the four songs on the EP are self-proclaimed “rip off” tracks; “Open Your Eyes (A Misfits Rip-off)” and “Salvation is a Parking Lot (A Black Lips Rip-off)”. Their deliberately self-deprecating admission becomes a glorified punk homage to The Orwells’ idols. In a music culture where every band is trying to prove their worth by brandishing their “unique” sound, The Orwells couldn’t care less, they’re simply striving to make raw rock n roll and have a damn good time doing it. Their title track on their new EP is a guitar shredding, cymbal clashing, throat-straining anthem of autonomy and disobedience reminiscent of Black Lips’ “Bad Kids” in its irreverence and self-aware grit. The Orwells guitarist Matt O’Keefe told NPR, “(It’s about) the millions of people who had their history written for them, and how they felt they couldn’t escape it. It’s about being told what to do, about being told what to believe in — which is, in a nutshell, the story of America’s youth.” On “Who Needs You”, Cuomo shouts “Listen up forefathers, I’m not your son”, proclaiming The Orwells independence as well as his own.
The Orwells’ video for “Who Needs You” takes you back to American History basics:
For more good stuff from The Orwells, listen to “Mallrats (La La La)“, “In My Bed“, and “Other Voices“.
