Everything you know and love about Athens, GA band Futurebirds remains in their newly released studio album, Hotel Parties. The twangy hollered harmonies, the distinguishable fusion of country and atmospheric indie rock influences, and the lingering reverby sound can all be checked off the list, yet this time in a more polished package. The rambunctious band, whom I first had the pleasure to see in 2012, has cleaned up their style a bit. But don’t be fooled; this album has the band’s name written all over it.
Hotel Parties, which is the band’s third studio LP, is an ode to the duality of life. Futurebirds guitarist Thomas Johnson adds that it is about “the give and take of life; dreams vs. reality; loving vs. longing; wanting to grab life by the horns vs. needing to chill…I could go on forever. With a touring band, the home vs. road theme comes to the forefront daily.” It is simultaneously an anthemic roll your windows down kind of album that you can also listen to before going to bed. Either way, the album brilliantly captures the band’s outerworldly sound and energy; truly, it features some of their best work to date.
To kick off their promotion tour, the 5-piece band came home to the Georgia Theater in Athens, GA to give their fellow Athenians a first glance of this stunning work. The 11-song record was highly anticipated among their many fans, as they have steadily gained traction outside of Athens since their forming in 2008. For what seems like one endless tour, they have made their mark at many reputable venues and festivals. This fall will be no different; their tour schedule features dates in both Southern college towns and large metropolitan cities to promote this album.
Be sure to check out Hotel Parties as well as one of their live shows if you get the chance; these Georgia boys will not disappoint.
10/02 – Mercy Lounge – Nashville, TN
10/03 – Zanzabar – Louisville, KY
10/04 – Cosmic Charlies – Lexington, KY
10/06 – The Bishop – Bloomington, IN
10/07 – Southgate – Newport, KY
10/09 – The Southern – Charlottesville, VA
10/10 – Black Cat – Washington DC
10/11 – The Camel – Richmond, VA
10/13 – Mothlight – Asheville, NC
10/14 – Revelry Room – Chattanooga, TN
10/15 – Saturn – Birmingham, AL
10/16 – Montgomery Museum – Montgomery, AL
10/22 – Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS
10/23 – Martin’s – Jackson, MS
10/24 – One Eyed Jack’s – New Orleans, LA
10/27 – Lightbulb Club – Fayettesville, AR
10/28 – Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
10/29 – Rose Music Hall – Columbia, MO
10/30 – The Bootleg – St. Louis, MO
10/31 – Subterranean – Chicago, IL
11/02 – Beachland Tavern – Cleveland, OH
11/03 – The Basement – Columbus, OH
11/04 – Mohawk – Buffalo, NY
11/05 – Higher Ground Showcase Lounge – Burlington, VT
11/06 – Great Scott – Boston, MA
11/07 – Press Room – Portsmouth, NH
11/10 – Iron Horse – Northhampton, MA
11/12 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
11/21 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC
Margot is currently a rising senior at the University of Georgia in Athens where she is pursuing a degree in English, and eventually hopes to work as a writer in business or journalism. As you can probably guess due to her major, Margot loves to read all the books she can get her hands on. She enjoys enthusiastically discussing with anyone who will listen (usually just her dog) about her love/writer's envy for Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell. **CAUTION: wine makes this worse. She also enjoys scouring record shops to find all her favorite oldies band’s records, with “Eat A Peach” by the Allman Brothers and Paul Simon’s self-titled album being her most triumphant finds. Although her favorite bands are mostly disbanded or too old to play, she still enjoys seeing the live shows of contemporary bands and Athens is definitely the place to be for that.