Skeletons And The Kings Of All Cities

Describing the sources of inspiration for LUCAS, Brooklyn-based Skeletons ringleader Matt Mehlan says,

"LUCAS is named after a small town in Kansas, where the Garden of Eden is. I started writing lyrics when we were driving through those huge states, thinking about these little places off the interstate. Sometimes just a house or two next to each other."

The album's ambiguous narrative came to the songs naturally. Mehlan Continues,

"There's a beauty-obsessed king whose broom sweeps up all the leftover, unwanted people so he can fix them with his kisses and touch, make them HIS kind (and put holes in their bodies to squeeze God in). LUCAS became the town, the light at the end, the pot of gold, the emerald city AND the boy with hair flowing to his ankles from all over his body. He's one of those unwanted, and when the King calls out for the cops to bring him a lock of hair from all families' youngest children (to make a sweater), his family sends him off on his journey out of the city - to the Lucases, the Gardens of Eden, the freer nowhere places. To protect and save his hair personality, let him understand it, to return when he can handle the city and its intensities (people, memories, drugs), remove him from his curtained teenage room to where he can be beyond his hair. They give him a TV for comfort."

The self-produced album captures this dynamic wonderfully, sounding as expansive as a continent while leaving room for the tiniest sonic detail. Building on their reputation for everything-but-the-kitchen-sink instrumentation, the band has noticeably expanded their sound to more organic, however unfamiliar, realms.

Recorded in the band’s studio (the Silent Barn) in the midst of their densest touring schedule, LUCAS reflects the experimentation of their live shows: greater contributions from guitarists Jason McMahon and Tony Lowe, the double drum barrage of Jon Leland and Mike Ames, low-end lockdown from Carson Garhart, plus NYC hornmen Peter Evans, Sam Kulik and Cyrus Pireh. This album—perplexing but highly rewarding—is a testament to Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities' ongoing musical evolution.