Just a few weeks after releasing their latest album, “Hotel Parties”, Futurebirds is bringing their alt-country sound to Proud Larry’s tonight at 9.
“Hotel Parties” follows the band’s 2013 “Baba Yaga” and does not disappoint. Their unique sound has only grown over the two-year gap between albums, producing some of the most powerful songs of the band’s career. Futurebirds’ six members, Thomas Johnson, Johnny Lundock, Carter King, Brannen Miles, Daniel Womack and Dennis Love, come together to create a psychedelic twang all their own that has continuously kept their fans coming back for more.
“A few of us were in school, a few of us met working,” said Carter King, vocalist and guitar player.
Futurebirds was born in the eclectic college town of Athens, Georgia, a place which drew King in with its music scene.
“Its reputation precedes itself,” he said. “It’s an awesome mix of people right on top of each other.”
The band’s name, though, is inspired by a more scholarly event.
“I was inspired while taking a poultry evaluation class,” King said. “Our professor was telling us about people using chickens to predict the future throughout history and it just stuck with me.”
Futurebirds has spent much of the time since its creation on the road, something reflected clearly throughout “Hotel Parties.” The songs mirror the struggle of trying to balance life on the road and the comforts of home, as well as the dichotomy between the love of the familiar and the excitement of the new.
“This is definitely an on-the-road record,” King said.
He recalled the three years they have been writing songs for “Hotel Parties.”
“How do you balance that life, going out on the road, staying at a new place every night, meeting all kinds of new people with feeling like you want to come home and grow up with the rest of your friends? This is just us trying to figure out how to make those things work together.”
The title track seamlessly relates those bittersweet feelings. The song starts off slow and melancholy, but by the end of the line “hotel parties are exactly what we need, hotel parties always get the best of me,” the disposition of the song shifts into something much more upbeat. This style is seen throughout the album, containing deeply poignant lyrics while remaining decidedly lighthearted in its sound, something the band has perfected.
The Georgia band remains unique in how they execute their songs and the way in which they combine their lyrics with their melody, creating music that is steadfast in its ability to please an audience. They are never repetitive, though, and “Hotel Parties” is an album that can be enjoyed in its entirety.
Futurebirds recorded “Baba Yaga” at Oxford’s Fat Possum Records and are no stranger to the city.
“We’ve played Proud Larry’s more times than we can count and we’ve opened a few shows at the Lyric,” said King. “We love Oxford.”
