A debut album is a little like a high school yearbook photo. Sure, it brings back some great memories, but maybe the hair and wardrobe choices haven’t aged that well, you know? First records can also represent an artist’s starting point, so after years of natural evolution, their debut might not sound like the band their fans know and love.
Then there’s a record like Wildewoman. Now a decade old (how?!), the debut full-length from indie-pop vocal outfit Lucius launched the then-Brooklyn-based band’s career, bursting with gorgeous harmonies produced by vocalists and cofounders Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig.
Mixing the sweet throwback sounds of ’60s female vocal groups with more sonically dark indie fare, Wildewoman established Lucius as a force and became their springboard to success. Media outlets around the globe praised the record, including Rolling Stone and the Guardian. Paste magazine called it “one of the most complete indie pop LPs this year,” noting how it reintroduced “retro girl-group swag to the 21st century at a time when it’s most needed.”
“The precious thing about that album was how unprecious we were about it,” Wolfe said as she and Laessig spoke with me on Zoom from Los Angeles, where the band is now based. “There was a detachment from any expectation, so the pulse of the thing isn’t so overwrought. We were just trying to sound like us, and no one had heard of us. Which was great, but you can never really re-create that.”
Fortunately, the band isn’t attempting to. Lucius have planned a seven-show mini tour honoring the decade anniversary of Wildewoman and the cities that supported them in their infancy. Alongside big markets such as New York City, Boston and Chicago, Burlington — or South Burlington, rather — is one of the few small cities to make the cut. Lucius play at Higher Ground Ballroom on Tuesday, January 30.
“We wanted to initially focus on places that were really integral in the growth of Lucius,” Wolfe explained. “We were really focused on building our audience up in the Northeast at first. We lived in Brooklyn; we didn’t want to lose money on the road, so it needed to be close.”
The band, which also includes drummer Dan Molad and guitarist Peter Lalish, found a home away from home in the Burlington area, playing shows at Higher Ground and ArtsRiot and a memorable set at the 2019 Grand Point North fest in Waterfront Park.
“It just seemed like a good fit whenever we played here,” Laessig said. “I still can’t believe it’s been a decade, but when you’re on tour, things start to blur. It’s not until you look back that you start to realize how fun something was or what a cool place that was.”
Lucius will perform Wildewoman front to back in its entirety. Rehearsing the older material has given the band a chance to reevaluate its sound and pinpoint aspects of that period it might want to revisit in the future.
“With a lot of the new stuff we’ve been working on, it feels like we’re trying to get back to the heart of what Lucius is,” Wolfe said.
“Listening back to Wildewoman, the arrangements are so interesting,” Laessig said. “If one line or one melody on that album fell apart, the whole song would; they’re constructed in such a tight way. It’s been really cool to revisit that, and honestly, we feel like it’s something we want to get back to as a band.”
Some of those insights can be heard on Lucius’ new single, “Stranger Danger.” An electro-pop-leaning tune full of — no surprise — lush, soaring harmonies contrasted with dark lyrics (“Walk the walk whenever it’s convenient / Turn the other cheek if the money’s lookin’ greener / Where’s the empathy / when you need it?”), the song gives fans a sneak peek at the band’s next phase.
“We like to switch things up and not repeat ourselves,” Wolfe said, pointing out the “glitter and fabulousness” of Lucius’ 2022 album, Second Nature. “Where we are right now as a unit, we’re as connected as we’ve been in a long time. So going back to Wildewoman and reconnecting with that mode of Lucius, it feels like the natural next step.”
It’s fitting for the band to take that step at Higher Ground. Lucius love Burlington, and Burlington loves them right back. Here’s hoping for another decade
This article appears in Jan 24-30, 2024.
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