the locals blog

@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

“The Locals from Chicago is fronted by singer/guitarist/songwriter Yvonne Doll, and completed by bassist Christy Nunes and drummer Kirk Snedeker. The current line-up has existed since 2006, although the band has been going for considerably longer.

The sound is bright, breezy and poppy on the surface, and under laid by a tight punk-rock-orientated rhythm section. It’s upbeat, accessible stuff, but there’s still enough grit to make this EP more than a mere throwaway pop release. Singer Yvonne has a good tone, reminiscent in places of Gwen Stefani or more punkish vocalists like Linda Perry of 4 None Blondes fame….”

Read the whole review »

Thanks to the lovely ladies at Cherrygrrl.com for posting this article about our new ep “SALT”
“Summer is coming, and I’m reminded of warm, electric nights at those great, real rock bars in Chicago as I listen to this band from the City of Big Shoulders. And SALT is a hard-working EP– it holds up the high energy from start to finish….”
Read the whole article »

APRIL 30th, 2010 @ The Elbo Room, Chicago Il!
Look out music loving citizens, our new e.p. “SALT” is out! If you are in the Chicago-land area, please, please save the date and come out to the Elbo Room on April 30th to help us celebrate the new disc! (insert hooping, yelling here, please stop short of looting).

The Locals e.p. Release Party has just been improved, now with: (This is not true, there will be no clowns)

(also a fabrication, everyone knows this guy is doing Leno that night)

(Juggling is hard, have you ever tried? It’s hard.)

(Hobbits get in free, it’s true!)

Wait wait, there are actually truley awesome bands playing with us at the release party…for real Cyclesomething The Powwows Earth Program

What people (who are not clowns) are saying about SALT

“The EP ‘SALT’ will have listeners craving more than four exceptionally crafted songs….” — Rock Wired Magazine

“Buy “Salt” and see where exactly the road takes the band in the next year; the frenetic energy held in each track will make seeing this band live something amazing. ” —Neufutur.com

“In the End, The Locals are showing real drive in order to create a killer vibe for you and I to enjoy. The guitar, bass and drum lines are all phenomenal and Yvonne’s glimpses of Gwen Stefani’s singing style all make this one exciting EP. I just wish there were more than four songs…” —Skope Magazine

We had the awesome opportunity to talk with Brian Lush over at Rock Wired Magazine about our new EP “Salt”. Drop by and see what total dorky goofballs we are (LOL!)
“SALT OF THE EARTH
THE LOCALS TALK TO ROCKWiRED
ABOUT THEiR LATEST EP SALT
COMiNG TOGETHER AS BANDMATES AND FRiENDS
AND THE EVOLUTiON OF THEiR SOUND
http://www.rockwired.com/thelocals.JPGAPRiL 5, 2010
iNTERViEWED BY BRiAN LUSH
The amped up electric guitar sound of the Chicago-based trio THE LOCALS was harder to come by than can be imagined. Ten years ago, the band got its start as an acoustic duo featuring singer/guitarist YVONNE DOLL and bassist CHRISTY NUNES. In the year 2006, DOLL and NUNES chose to move away from their coffeehouse acoustic approach and hired drummer KIRK SNEDEKER to help forge a harder, rock-edged sound in the tradition of THE PIXIES or THE WHIGS. For the bands latest release – the EP ‘SALT’ – THE LOCALS have cranked up the amps and have added a few synth touches. While style changes have earned the band new fans at every turn in their development, on thing has remained constant – singer/songwriter YVONNE DOLL’s penchant for penning songs that are clever both lyrically and musically. With NUNES and SNEDEKER giving DOLL’s songs the perfect launch pad from which to take off from and production from STEVEN GILLIS (drummer for FILTER), The EP ‘SALT’ will have listeners craving more than four exceptionally crafted songs….”
Read the interview