lespecial is redefining the term “power trio”. The multi-instrumentalists from Connecticut continue to push the boundaries of what a three-piece band is capable of both live and in the studio ahead of their latest album, “Odd Times”. The band’s signature blend of “heavy future groove” combines headbanging metal riffage and surgical rhythmic precision with bone shaking 808s, sub synths and ethereal vocal stylings for a dance floor that welcomes moshing, dancing and hip swaying alike. Listeners are taken on a journey to the musical netherworld through esoteric soundscapes punctuated by raw, primal power.
Odd Times, lespecial’s darkest and heaviest record to date, is an enigmatic and compelling musical project that explores the ever-changing nature of time amidst isolation. With heavy riffs, tribal drumming, and hints of levity, it’s a captivating journey crafted in collaboration with Havok’s David Sanchez. An intriguing blend of old-school metal and modern djent-inspired riffage awaits in this haunting sonic experience.
21+
Bring your own camping chairs to catch some shade & live music under the Peoria sky.
Free shuttle to/from Landmark’s north parking lot, with 2 shuttles on a constant rotation to bring you right around the corner from Landmark’s north lot to the venue, and back to your car in less than one minute.
The New York and Boston-based rock power trio, lespecial, carves their own path in contemporary rock music, veering from hip-hop to metal, prog to house, pensive indie-rock to apocalyptic dub... and yet somehow still present a unified musical vision.
These three childhood friends from Connecticut play off of a lifetime of shared experience in their writing and performance. In a power trio, it's essential that each of the players can utterly captivate you at any given time. Each individual has a lot of weight to carry and is only as strong as the weakest link. In the studio, as on stage, it seems at first blush that Jon Grusauskas—delivering lyrics that call for your attention and seamlessly moving from guitar to keys to samples—is handling the entire upper end of the spectrum… until you consider how broad the melodic embrace of rhythmatist Rory Dolan and low end wizard Luke Bemand: injecting splashes of color and wicked chops into their heavy groove foundations or driving assaults, this dynamic battery simultaneously eases and propels lespecial through fractious changes of mood and tempo.
The band’s fearless pursuit of a synthesis of the musical idioms that inspire them has, thus far, culminated with the release of their second album, cheen, on October 31, 2017. Pole vaulting over traditional genres, cheen is a snapshot of a band flexing their remarkable creative muscles. In a traditional sense, cheen is a risky album: it asks the listener to suspend a categorical approach and dig into their own eclectic unconsciousness, to adapt a phrase, and appreciate the flow of the record from start to finish, as it moves guided by an unseen plan. If there is an underlying thematic structure, it is one that is anchored—musically and lyrically—by horror flicks, 1980s video games and lespecial’s indictment of the current cultural state of affairs. Not overtly political, angry or morose, cheen seems to observe the zeitgeist and respond to it. lespecial’s willingness to take this risk of presenting an album full of flavors and feels is a reflection of the respect they have for their fans, present and future: they simply don't underestimate the listener, and that itself is refreshing.
Never willing to sit back and settle into a groove, lespecial pivoted quickly from touring in support of the release of cheen into a whole new format: collaborating with and supporting the iconic Bay Area hip-hop emcee and producer, Zion I, on tour dates and a forthcoming album. There are also plans to release remixes of cheen tracks from some of their producer friends who hold lespecial in the highest esteem.
