The Living Statues Serve Up Rock ‘n’ Roll At Schubas

The Living Statues live by Sarah Hess

Chicago – On a hazy Sunday night, music lovers and beer drinkers found themselves dancing to The Living Statues’ rock ‘n’ roll, thanks to Schubas’ 100% Off Bands, a series of free local shows, which touts $2 beers and a good time. The Living Statues drew quite the crowd, especially considering they’re not exactly local. The band hails from Milwaukee, but with Wisconsin being Chicago’s northerly neighbor, bands like The Living Statues, Phox, and Vinyl Theater play the Windy City quite often…making them like that kid from the neighborhood, who your parents just sort of “adopted” because they were always hanging around and eating your food.

Recently The Living Statues have begun to generate some buzz outside of the Midwest. Red Bull Music premiered the band’s single “Blackout,” off their debut EP Knockin, which was recorded at Converse Rubber Tracks Studio in Brooklyn. The band describes their sound as garage rock. So it is, embracing punk (think The Strokes’ post-punk revival) and dabbling in rockabilly and surf rock, but it goes beyond that, hinting at R&B, with a Motown esthetic. At times they sounded like The Hives and The Arctic Monkeys – they also slightly looked like the retro vibin’ U.K. boys, too  – but they’re distinctly American with their Midwestern swag.

The Living Statues started the night out with “Not My Fault.” The trio of guitarist and vocalist Tommy Shears, drummer Chris Morales and bassist Alex Thornburg, turned into a four-piece on stage with the addition of guitarist Zak Rickun and demonstrated that the buzz surrounding them is well deserved. Smiles and catcalls came from the crowd. Shears noted that some of the love was coming from Milwaukee folks in the audience who made the drive down. People danced and shook their booties, especially to “Extra Day” and “All My Girls,” the latter of which Shears informed Best New Bands will be the band’s next single, to be released later in April. He also made us privy to the fact that the Summerfest alumni are set to perform again at “The World’s Largest Music Festival” this summer, although Shears was pretty mum when it came to the details.

When The Living Statues played their latest single, “Blackout,” girls danced like they were on American Bandstand. The ladies stirred the room, and suddenly everyone at the front of the music hall was dancing. Although, the girls can’t get all the credit. The Living Statues deserve some too. They continued to sway the crowd with their mash-up of The Zutons’ “Valerie” and The Strokes’ “Last Night.”

The Living Statues played “Knockin’” thinking it’d end their set, but afterward, people rowdily cheered, “One more song!” The blushing men obliged, playing “Our American Cousin,” their first single ever, from way back in 2012 when the band first formed. Shears danced around, shaking his hips like a young Elvis Presley and jerking erratically like a youthful Carl Barât of The Libertines, growling into his microphone, “I’m the kid you got faith in!”

Well, Shears, after seeing you perform live, I have faith in you, The Living Statues, and the resurgence of rock ‘n’ roll!

Keep up with The Living Statues on facebook and twitter. Knockin’ is available for purchase on The Living Statues’ bandcamp page.
Sarah Hess

Sarah Hess

At the age of six, Sarah Hess discovered True Blue by Madonna. This resulted in her spending hours in front of the bathroom mirror with a hairbrush microphone, belting out "La Isla Bonita" off key. Her love for music only intensified over the years thanks to her parents; her mother exposed Sarah to The Jackson Five and had her hustling to the Bee Gees, while her father would play her albums like 'Pet Sounds' and 'Some Girls' from start to finish, during which he'd lecture on and on about the history of rock & roll. Sarah would eventually stumble upon rap and hip-hop, then punk and alternative, and fall madly in love with Jeff Buckley and film photography.

After attending The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Sarah went on to study education at Dominican University, earning a degree in history. When not teaching, writing, or taking in a show, she is most likely to be found with a camera to her eye or hanging out in a darkroom.


You can follow Sarah Hess on twitter at @Sarahhasanh and view her music photography on her website: smhimaging.com.
Sarah Hess

Latest posts by Sarah Hess (see all)