Logan 5 and the Runners

"The result supersedes its own glitter. Yeah, it’s a Britpop record: there’s dancing-in-your-bedroom beats, that propulsive sort of industrial-fan-in-the-face energy, and huge instrumental outros cascading to the finish. But the cold synths and strangled guitars make it seem the songs would be at home playing in a rusty flying car from Blade Runner ... instead of a tribute act, we have a group throwing the whole thing into a neurotic disarray, not from an elitist high but from a deep-down scavenger low" - Boston Phoenix [ read full article ]
"Keen as mustard and tingling with a touch of James Bond sophistication, the Boston five-piece arrive as a bright purple antidote to gloom, best enjoyed flaming in loud bedsits where you can get yourself drunk on gusto ... they could use Featurette in the victory scenes for when Hollywood turns Flight 1549 into a disaster movie. No horseshit" - Coke Machine Glow [ read full article ]
"... could take on the indie club as easily as it could the arena" - Weekly Dig [ read full article ]
"A retro, Velvet Goldmine-esque swagger mixed with the fresh exuberance and sleaze of the more glam aspects of Brit pop; at once channelling the witty sarcasm of Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker and the softer, melodramatic facets of Bowie" - Delusions of Adequacy [ read full article ]
"An intriguing mix for those raised on the glam of Roxy Music, T-Rex, and Bowie as well as the '90s Cool Britannia scene" - Boston Herald [ read full article ]
"... they also bring to the disc the ability to deliver top-notch elements of garage, indie, straight up rock and alt-country ... a sound that not only keeps a listener guessing about what's going to come next, but nodding her head in appreciation when that next natural progression arrives" - Bostonist.com [ read full article ]
"... snarky and desperate, and the music throbs with analog where's-my-jetpack retro-futurist attitude. If Noel Gallagher starred in a remake of The Jetsons" - HubArts.com [ read full article ]
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Logan 5 and the Runners are a Boston-based electro-glam rock band known for a dramatic live show that includes Moogs, loops, platform boots, and a guy who plays keyboards and trumpet at the same time. Their acclaimed, self-released debut album Featurette, recorded over 10 days in a rustic Vermont barn, was released on January 17, 2009.
Singer/guitarist David Berndt named the band after cult 70s sci-fi movie Logan's Run when several friends pointed out that he looked "a lot" like a young Michael York – the actor who played "Sandman" Logan 5 in that film. While L5ATR don't have songs about heavy-handed sci-fi with political overtones, much of their music is inspired by cinema. The trashy epic "Neely O'Hara" is dedicated to a character from Valley of the Dolls, "Subtitles" compares love to a foreign language indie film, and Featurette's cover art is a nod to the French New Wave.
The sound on Featurette is sometimes called "retro-futuristic," which could be in reference to the band's liberal use of ancient synths like the Optigan, a Mattel-designed adult toy organ from the 70s, and the Crumar, a back-breakingly heavy early 80s monosynth used by the likes of Duran Duran and Sun Ra.
L5ATR formed in 2006 after Berndt split with ex-Shelley Winters Project collaborator and Boston rock icon Rick Berlin. Chris Barrett plays keyboards and trumpet, Mike DeLisle plays bass, Marc Beaulieu plays drums, and Nick Balkin plays guitar.