* En anglais uniquement
Deerfield, IL-based quartet
the Redwalls formed in 2001; originally a British Invasion-inspired cover band dubbed
the Pages, the group's members -- singer/guitarist
Logan Baren, his bassist brother
Justin, lead guitarist
Andrew Langer, and drummer Jordan Kozer -- were still in high school when they played their first show at the local jazz club Pops for Champagne. The Pages soon began writing original material and earned a regular booking at the Evanston club Nevin's Live, with the venue's booking manager,
Mitchell Marlow, eventually quitting his post to manage the band full-time. With the help of former
Wilco drummer (and
Marlow pal)
Ken Coomer,
the Pages' demo recording made its way to Capitol Records' A&R rep
Julian Raymond, and while in the midst of working on their debut LP for the Chicago-based indie label Undertow, the band signed to Capitol in mid-2003, changing their name to
the Redwalls at the label's request. (An earlier Capitol signing was also known as
the Pages, but was far better known as
Mr. Mister.) Undertow issued
the Redwalls' debut,
Universal Blues, in the fall of 2003 -- after completing sessions for the album, Kozer quit the group to attend college, with Ben Greeno signing on to play drums. Their first record for Capitol finally saw the light of day in June of 2005. Produced by
Rob Schnapf (
Elliott Smith,
the Vines),
De Nova adds horns and a bit of major-label magic to
the Redwalls' sound but retains their live-wire energy and ends up being an enjoyable blast of classic rock worship. No surprise that similarly backward-looking
Oasis invited the band to join their summer of 2005 U.K. tour. ~ Jason Ankeny