It took me a while to realise why I liked the Chicago band Empires so much. And then it occurred to me that lead singer Sean Van Fleet had the same sort of emotive intonation in his voice that Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump does. But that wasn’t it. It was because Van Fleet can turn on a dime from these poppy melodies to singing with something akin to the raw, ragged attitude of My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way (as he does on the song “I Want Blood”). And when you couple these provocative vocals with the rabble-rousing rock music that the rest of the band (Tom Conrad, Ryan Luciani and Max Steger) plays, you have yourself one really addictive new group to listen to.
Empires describes themselves as a new band of old friends, and perhaps this is why their music is such a success – it’s been just two years since they released their debut album themselves, but most other bands would still be finding their feet and establishing their sound now. When Empires plays music, they know exactly what they’re delivering and they know how to do it really well.
There is not a song of theirs that I’ve listened to that I didn’t want to recommend in this article, but I’ll try to pinpoint just a few. Howl, the abovementioned debut album that was released in May 2008 will ingratiate itself into your heart, your mind and your playlists within a few listens. There’s something for everyone – “All Night Long” is so musically seductive in its acoustic subtlety. This same luscious vibe is carried through to “Late Night Rendezvous” which is louder but more danceable. “Believe!” and “Modern Love” fall into a solid pop-rock place, sounding something like the bastard child of Fall Out Boy and The Killers. The album is highly recommended.
Empires have just released their second album, Bang and will be on tour across America’s East Coast this spring, so if you’re in the area, check out these tour dates to catch this awesome band live.

Or you can join them on www.weareempires.com, Facebook, Twitter or Myspace to stay up to date with band news.
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