Scott Lucas & the Married Men

Scott Lucas is best known as the singer/guitarist for the two-man, Chicago rock band Local H. But recently, he has broadened his musical scope and greatly expanded his lineup, pulling together a collective of musicians — the Married Men – that currently numbers seven and includes violin, accordion and organ. The result is quite different than Local H and a perfect fit for Lucas’ more personal, introspective songs. Reviewers have compared the band to American Music Club, the Waterboys and Lambchop. Lucas calls the group’s evolving sound “country-ish, alt-rock for people who like metal.”

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“The more we played live, the louder the amps got. The louder the amps got….you get the idea. After a certain point, we quit fighting it and decided to get chocolate all over our peanut butter,” Lucas explains, describing how he merged the force and volume of Local H with the sensitive twang of the Married Men for the band’s second album. “It’s not like we’ve turned into Slayer or anything – we’ve just decided to embrace our dark side. And that goes for the lyrics, as well.” Blood Half Moon (the End Records – June 2012), is distinctively darker, yet ultimately more optimistic than Scott Lucas & the Married Men’s previous records, which were often described as quiet and sad. From the searing violin and haunting organ on the opening track “Lover the Lullaby,” which Lucas cites as the song that marked the band’s turn toward a more commanding sound; to “Heavy Lidded Love,” an upbeat song about cancer and ODing; to the closing, scorching eight-minute rendition of the traditional “Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down),” this album is HEAVY — figuratively and sonically.

Scott Lucas formed the Married Men in early 2009 out of a desire to record a batch of intensely personal songs he had written that didn’t feel like they belonged on a Local H album. Shortly after culling his backing band from a host of local indie acts — most notably the Tossers, Caviar and the Joy Poppers — Lucas and the Married Men recorded their first album, with fewer than a dozen live shows to their name. Their debut, George Lassos the Moon, was released in February 2010 and was followed by several tours. To showcase the band’s evolution after more time spent together playing live, they hit the studio again that summer, releasing The Absolute Beginners EP in October 2010. Though he has no intention of abandoning Local H, Lucas has also never considered the Married Men a one-off, side project. He plans to keep them both going simultaneously.