The Orwells

Chicago indie rock types the Orwells were in their last year of high school in 2011 when they signed to L.A.-based blogger Justin Gage's Autumn Tone record label after they initially sent him a link to their video with hopes it would lead to being featured on his website. They formed in 2009 when cousins Mario Cuomo (vocals) and Dominic Corso (guitar) teamed up with brothers Grant (bass) and Henry Brinner (drums), alongside their friend Matt O'Keefe (guitar), and started making music. The combination of their raw youth and rasping melodies on single "Mallrats (La La La)" was picked up by the likes of Pitchfork and was swiftly followed by the release of their debut album, Remember When, in 2012. They graduated high school early in 2013 and immediately set out on the road and toured nonstop for the majority of the year, stopping briefly to record EP Other Voices with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek in the summer. Their frenetic live performances brought interest from a host of major labels, but they eventually signed to Atlantic Records and headed to the studio with indie producer Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian) to work on new material. The following year they set out with Arctic Monkeys on a North American tour and appeared on American talk show Late Show with David Letterman. Their sophomore effort, Disgraceland, arrived later that year.