Performance Evaluations
Leverage Models is very new, without a proper debut LP (but it’s coming very soon). Give us a few minutes, we’re not in it for flashes in pans, &c. Leverage Models has been tipped by the Guardian UK, Pitchfork, Yvynyl, Magnet, The Onion A.V. Club, Myspace UK, Spotify (Album of the Day), Furs FM (Czech), 1969.RO (Romania), Rolling Stone (Germany), Radar Magazine (Sweden), the Pittsburgh CityPaper, Largehearted Boy, and A Heart Is A Spade. Some initial pre-release press below.
“[Artists on the Rise, 1/23/12] This is world beats turned into booty-shaking dirtiness, topped off with Shannon Fields’ roof-shaking falsetto. It’s the kind of band worth doing business with.” - Deli Magazine
“the most tightly composed pop songs I’ve ever heard from a DIY act, without the unnecessary frills and unearned pretensions of acts which fancy themselves pop pioneers…feels like an exceptionally satisfying punch to the head…Leverage Models suggests that pop is still worth a shot, and I’m beginning to see the point.” - Dingus
“excellent…world-spanning pop that will do to your ears what this bright July summer sun is doing to your mood” - Portland Mercury
“a massively catchy sound that grows on you…energizing” - Origami Vinyl (Los Angeles)
“head-scratchingly brilliant” - Brad Laner (Medicine, Electric Company, M83), Dangerous Minds blog
“suddenly you realize you’ve been slowly seduced…This sucker bites hard, fangs bury deep into our subconscious and beg to you to listen again and again.” yvynl
“seriously layered, ornate, and frenzied electronic transmissions…excellent” - The Onion A.V. Club
“Leverage Models are nothing if not catchy…on the agenda to wrap up your Monday, I suggest you end it with this” - The Peel (thepeelmusic.com)
“Rapturous bursts of bright horn-fuelled funk-pop…Great” [New Band of the Day feature] ” - The Guardian
“extravagant pop” - The Deli Magazine NY
“Stars Like Fleas’ Shannon Fields channels hints of funk, opera, proto-punk and modern classical music through his solo act, Leverage Models.” - The Isthmus (Madison, WI)
“with hypnotic, anthemic lyricism…gorgeous songs…written by someone hitting full stride” - Their Bated Breath
”[Interim Deliverable EP listed in Favorite Releases of 2011] Anyone who knows Shannon Fields knows that he’s the kind of musician that’s capable of creating groundbreaking music…With Stars Like Fleas Fields ventured into some strange territory that other bands couldn’t possibly be capable of, but Stars Like Fleas were not the type of band that a wide audience would enjoy…. “Dreaming of Accidents” is ultimately a perfect pop song, but it’s more than just that.” - Mecca Lecca
“insanely brilliant” - Ooh Brilliant
“Having bollocked The Strokes out of it yesterday for utterly failing to crack the 80s sound, it’s nice to end the week with someone who can pull it off masterfully. As in John Hughes-soundtrack masterfully….Talk Talk-esque…deadly” - Ragged Words
“A lullaby sung by the sea with the subdued hysterics of of Scritti Politti…will drench you in unspecified yearning & leave you reaching for the repeat button” - Gill Mills, New Music Matters (UK)
“With synth timbres and insistent melodies reminiscent of Brian Eno and John Cale’s 1990 collaboration, Wrong Way Up, Leverage Models seem to be fascinated with a more direct, if no less experimental, approach to songwriting.” - Bryan Reed, The Independent (Raleigh)
“glistening…engages the ear from start to finish” - FingerTips
“swirling…insistent [recommended]” - VaderEvader
“sounds exactly like what you never knew you hoped it would sound like. Right? Expectations be damned…I can’t wait to hear what more there is to come.” - Yer Sweet Chimneys
“c’est le nouveau projet solo de Shannon Fields, de Stars Like Fleas, à sortir chez Hometapes. Belle surprise” - PopNews (France)
Good words (in German) from Das Klienicum
“gnarling and clawing at thin air. For a first impression, this offers immeasurable attitude; something many of today’s “sound of 2011” artists can’t begin to muster” - Music Fan’s Mic
“ A very 80′s sound but without all the disco/ neon laced beats that we’ve become accustomed to - recommended” - Alfitude
“I really hate Missouri - but this new gem of a find - Leverage Models - could be from the depths of hell (almost Missouri) and I would still be stoked about them!” - Beautiful Buzz
“Leverage Models vocals reach out from underneath heavy drum machine beats & zapping synth lines. Haunting, almost gothic at times. This is heavy dance fuzz mania.” - BlogTO (Toronto)
