the locals blog

LA Podcast, “The Great Unknowns” is featuring The Locals this week! Drop by their site and give them some love (also make sure and check out the podcast!)
“Offering their fifth installment with their latest EP in 10 years, The Locals has been rocking the Chicago music scene by performing their raw alternative rock sound and giving rockers a touch of a retro 1990’s style.

This trio delivers an exceptional sound created by Lead-singer and Guitarist, Yvonne Doll, Bassist, Christy Nunes, and Kirk Snedeker on drums. With captivating retro melodies with rhythmic guitars, crashing drums with a modern spin, combined with Yvonne’s powerful and smokey voice, this compelling combination gives this band a sense of uniqueness. Reminiscing with a sound similar to the 90’s rock with artists like The Divinyls, Garbage, or even No Doubt, The Locals are poised with a quality that is definitely their own…”

Read the whole review & interview

“When the guitar starts up on Chicago-based indie rock group, The Locals’, new EP, “Salt”, one immediately has flashbacks to the early, pre-sellout days of punk group Blink 182. This rowdy sound that opens the first song, Sound it Out, quickly gives way, however, to a far more complex mix of beats (think 90s ska meets contemporary alt rock) that makes this track a standout. Unlike some current indie rock girls that scream to get our attention, lead singer, Yvonne Doll, grinds with the melody much like Gwen Stefani did in her early days with No Doubt. Doll’s powerful, but not overbearing, sound gives Sound it Out a pop feel without losing its rock edge.

The next track, Amnesia, adds even more pop elements, but includes just enough punk to prevent the song from being saccharine. With nice guitar build ups and lyrics about moving on, this song is perfect to blast in the car with the windows down. Rounding out the EP are Everything Must Go and Away From Here, two songs that truly highlight Doll’s smooth voice and vocal range. Singing about the “shoulda, woulda, couldas” on Away From Here, Doll proves she has the alt-rock style of singers like Karen O, but also exhibits a unique blend of sultry sounds that definitely sets her apart and makes this track noteworthy.

Read more: http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/audio-file-blog/109227/chicago-indie-rock-group-the-locals-release-new-ep-salt
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Read the whole review

Independentclauses.com
May 24, 2010
By Stephen Carradini

“Discussing the Locals as a unit is difficult. They fall neatly into two parts: the band and the vocals. This distinction is particularly difficult, as it divorces vocalist Yvonne Doll from her arms (she’s the guitarist too). But it’s a necessary distinction when discussing Salt, their four-song EP.

The Locals are a pop-rock band, and an incredibly tight one at that. When the musicians kick into a groove, it sticks together and rocks hard. There’s not a moment where the band feels out of sync on the entire EP. It feels like the songs were born as a unit instead of from individual parts. This has to do with the engineer of the EP as much as it does the band; but even the best production can’t make something sound this well-performed. From the charging beat of “Sound It Out” to the bass-heavy “Away From Here,” the band locks it in on everything they try.”

Read the whole review »

We did a little Q&A with Chicago Rock Music Examiner, Frank Krolicki. The Locals were thoroughly examined by the Chicago Rock Music Examiner and to be honest, we feel a little dirty…
“Back in 2008 I reviewed the latest LP, Big Picture, from Chicago alt-pop trio The Locals, and was happy to hear recently that they were back with a new EP called SALT. The EP is wonderful, made up of four songs that show genuine growth and take the band’s sound to new and exciting places. Vocalist and guitarist Yvonne Doll’s delivery is feistier and more passionate than ever, energy is amped up to 11, and fuller, more adventurous instrumentation brings an added breath of life to the material. Take opening track “Sound It Out” for example, a great big power pop song with an instant chorus that perfectly ties together everything that’s so great about this unit….”
Read the whole interview/review

“Trish Bendix and I were very pleased to be able to go to the CD release party for my friends and rad music makers The Locals last Friday. They’ve got a polished rock sound and can even play through a show with two women making sweet, sweet love on Yvonne’s foot as she was singing and playing guitar. If that isn’t grace, I’m not sure what is.”

Check out The Locals on Afterellen.com

@mtv_music “the chorus to “away from here” by @thelocals is epic! http://www.localsrock.com/”

yep! we likey.

The Locals never cease to thrill me. I mean really, how many bands do you know like this? They manage to walk the fine line between girl rock and raw, hyper-fueled, power pop and they do it with such finesse. This new EP, Salt, (itunes link) has four tracks and I love each of them. A step up from their most recent album, The Big Picture, The Locals give us sleeker, more filled out, just beautifully produced music. Salt packs a different kind of punch…read the whole review »

A review written for the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mark S. Tucker

“A power pop rock trio which has adopted Chicago as home base, The Locals favor anthemic melodies in driving atmospheres taken up sharply by the powerfully voiced Yvonne Doll, who’s something of a cross of Martha Bates, Debbie Harry, and Christina Amphlett…”

read the whole review »

Alt. Rock
8.87 (Scale 1-10)
By C.W. Ross

“The Locals is an alt. rock band that’s called Chicago home for the last decade. Their new 4-song EP, ‘Salt’, is the follow up to their full length 2008 album, ‘Big Picture’. While you only get 4-songs with a running time of just under 15 minutes those 4-songs are well worth the purchase price.

The band’s music is lead by the vocals of band co-founding member Yvonne Doll (vocals, guitar) that has just the perfect amount of rock grit to them while still retaining a feminine side. Doll is also the band’s songwriter so the emotion she puts into the vocals are very real….”

read the whole review »

“Well-seasoned Chicago musicians, The Locals, are anything but new on the music scene, but even after a decade of putting out records the band is keeping things fresh with their latest EP Salt, which will be celebrating its release this Friday, April 30th at the Elbo Room.
The new perspective of the band’s sound on Salt varies from their previous low-key roots rock signature. Now a fully electric powered triad, The Locals take on a style with a little more spunk and sass, falling not too far from the same tree as Pat Benetar, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Pixies.
From the tremor filled croon of front woman Yvonne Doll’s husky vocals in the starry sounding “Amnesia” we get a heavy dose of something reminiscent to 80’s fronted bands like The Bangles, with a steady ebb and flow to its instrumentals akin to something Ben Gibbard would write. In fact, starry guitar parts and percussive builds fill out the entire EP, giving Salt an exulting and positive vibe.”

Read the whole review/interview