I went to high school with a couple of The Envy Corps, took piano lessons from their mom for five years, and wrote their first-ever review from an interview sitting in their Ames, IA apartment for Art Scene around 2002. Later, I was at Brandon Darner’s To My Surprise‘s (his old band) live debut and was thrilled that he later joined the group as lead guitarist.
Since then, this band has taken off — landing a major record contract and opening for The Killers for their American tour (played Roy Wilkins in 2007).
Despite my personal connections with the band, I’m a huge fan. Group founder and principal songwriter Luke Pettipoole has a reputation for consistently releasing quality, innovative and compelling material. Newer stuff has been way less Radiohead and Pedro the Lion-infused as early material, not that I didn’t love the earlier stuff.
The group has a new EP out, Kid Gloves, and are working on their third LP — set to be released in late 2010.
Here’s a track off the new EP:
The Envy Corps : “Screen Test” (mp3)
The Envy Corps play Minneapolis’ 400 Bar on May 21 with It’s True and Texatonka.
