YEAR OF THE OX (2022)
Year of the Ox, FUTURIST’s third studio album, is a tightly constructed, sonically ambitious work that charts the band’s evolution through one of the most turbulent decades in recent history. Written over five years and completed during the height of the 2020 global shutdown, the record reflects on themes of dislocation, transformation, and survival in a world increasingly shaped by technology, isolation, and upheaval.
Recorded between Galaxy Smith Studios (David Brandwein) in Brooklyn and Capture.Studio (Jason “Jocko” Randall, Andrew Greacen) in Syracuse, Year of the Ox captures a band in transition—fusing sweeping rock-opera textures with experimental edge and lyrical depth. The album showcases FUTURIST’s ability to push boundaries while staying rooted in emotionally resonant songwriting, signaling a turning point that would ultimately lead to the band’s rebirth in Arizona.
OMENS (2019)
During the extended break following the release of their debut, FUTURIST have undergone some substantive changes in their overall aesthetic & collaborators. Departing from their light-hearted, indie folk-rock sounds from their debut, the band have clearly developed some deeper and more nuanced styles that are featured throughout their sophomore record, Omens. Living truer to form, the album is more technologically ambitious, through tracks such as “Slow Motion,” “Bad Air, Still Water,” & the harrowing & experimental “Harakiri," FUTURIST have embraced their modern tools to create a hybrid sound, both classic & forward-moving. Peel’s lyrics on songs such as “Olive Mountain,” “Crazy Eights,” & the symphonic “Behold! (Lullaby for the End of Days)” all touch upon the modern malaise & compulsive outrage that plagues an era of instant gratification and nonstop news cycles. All the while the childlike rock anthem “Born on Fire” or the punch-drunk “All I Ever Wanted” prove that the band has not lost touch with their optimistic roots.
WAR IS YESTERDAY (2011)
In November 2010, FUTURIST entered Dave Brandwein's newly formed Galaxy Smith Studios in Brooklyn, NY to record their debut LP, War Is Yesterday. The album was lyrically inspired by Curtis Peel's transition to the breakneck borough after years in the placid Colorado mountains, as well as his reflections on his childhood identity and bleeding heart outlook on love and youth, Peel relied heavily on Brandwein to provide instrumentation for the singer's "naive, but courageous" lyrics. FUTURIST recorded several songs, including "Tic Tac Toe", "Blacksheep Army", and "Antihero" with reoccurring live band, which at the time included Peel (guitar), Emily Holden (violin), Brad Weiger (bass), and Philip Mayer (drums).
Brandwein enlisted the help of producer/engineer Michael Haziza who was also working in the studio to expand upon some of the harmony and arrangement for the folk storytelling of "The Dragon Upstairs" and the luscious and sentimental "22." Josh Schwartz (tenor saxophone), Greg Sanderson (alto saxophone), and Evan Honse (trumpet) provided horn arrangements for the strange, angry, and fluctuating odd time signatures of "Hairpins", as well as on "Wingspan" alongside Nat Osborn (piano) creating an almost hippie, gospel soundscape comparable to the early Grateful Dead. Grant Schulte (guitar) performed alongside Holden, Ben Fox (upright bass), and Anna Callner (cello) for the swelling final two tracks "Slackjaw Pilgrims" and "Monsters (Mandarin Oranges)."
War Is Yesterday laid foundation for the anthemic duality found throughout the band's core sound. Futurist released the album on June 30th, 2011 with a spectacular three-floor multi-media installation and performance that involved over fifty artists in downtown Manhattan.
The Deli Magazine NYC writes:
"FUTURIST hearkens to the past with the sounds of strings and colonial drumbeats, but the underlying darkness meshed with sunny demeanor proves they offer enough light to burn."
The 2017 Deluxe Version features never-before-heard alternate takes/tracks, remixes, and live performances throughout the band's formative years.
ALBUM PRESS:
The Deli Magazine | We All Want Someone To Shout For | The Deli Magazine (#2) | CMJ | The Sleepfine Collective