Where's Lawrence?

"When we come across a band that we haven’t heard in one of the to-do’s, we generally head over to their myspace page and check out what they sound like. It’s been about a month since we stubbled upon Where’s Lawrence, and their song “The Comedy” has been stuck in our heads ever since.

Where’s Lawrence is an 8 piece band from Bentonville. That’s right. 8 piece.

Violins, guitars, mandolins, accordions, banjo’s and glockenspiels are just some of the varied instrumentation you can hear in their music, and lead singer Brian Kupillas writes some really inspiring vocal melodies and lyrics." - Fayetteville Flyeri

"If you’ve never seen Where’s Lawrence?, I highly recommend checking them out..." - Fayetteville Flyer

Joe Anello


It’s been a while since we’ve brought you a music review here at College News, but I promise it was worth the wait. Let us introduce you to Where’s Lawrence, a band you should know about.

From Northwest Arkansas, Where’s Lawrence describes themselves as a “progressive folk rock band.” With a seven-deep membership, the band released their first full-length effort, The Boy In the Well, in January.

Comprised of eleven memorable tracks, Well has a place in anyone’s music collection. What is surprising for a band so young is their ability to craft lengthy tunes that don’t become stale over the album’s hour running time. Seven of the eleven tracks on the disc break the six minute mark, and, of those, three of those actually surpassing nine minutes.

As you would naturally assume with a band that large, and featuring a multitude of non-traditional (to rock, anyways) instruments, including the mandolin and glockenspiel, Where’s Lawrence produces a full, rich sound. On “The Forest You’re Nothing Anyway,” that sound is at its best. Poetic lyrics and elegant yet popping melodies combine to form my favorite track on the album. Kelsey Kribel’s violin work on this track is worth the listen, let alone the rest of the band’s impressive work..

“Wokuk” surrounds a light, airy bridge with fast-paced and lively strums of the acoustic guitar and ukulele. “Beauty Fell” strips down Where’s Lawrence’s hefty sound to just Kupillas’ voice and a lone acoustic, showcasing his talent. Wrapping up the album, the final three minutes (of ten plus) of “A Light” delivers a noteworthy and bursting punctuation to an already worthwhile endeavor.

Behind their youthful exuberance and cohesion, Where’s Lawrence is a band that reminds you why anyone forms them in the first place. The Boy In the Well’s tracks feel unadulterated by over-mixing or precise engineering. Instead, each song feels as if they’re all recording together at the same time, capturing their musical collaboration as it happens.

With new artists and groups arriving on the scene every day, Where’s Lawrence is as unique as musically possible. Give them the old college try.

For more information about Where’s Lawrence, including upcoming performances and videos, be sure to drop by their MySpace page. The Boy In the Well is available on iTunes and CDBaby. - College News

Where's Lawrence is a creative indie-rock act producing great tracks for your listening pleasures. They work in the vein of Death Cab For Cutie meets Arcade Fire meets The Decemberists.

Wokuk is a driving song layered with great instrumentation. Its like a beautiful onion, each layer perfectly placed to support the overall composition. On Beauty Fell, the acoustic strum meets yearning vocals. Its pure rawness and has an intense quality.

The Forest...You're Nothing Anyway, is a slower, more down-tempo track. It has a close, intimate quality and the stripped down intro draws the listener close. The band enters and nicely lifts the song without taking away the pure, simple qualities.

Where's Lawrence does a fantastic job of pulling various instruments into the mix and putting them precisely where they belong. These guys clearly know what it takes to compose true art!
5 out of 5 Stars
Posted by Ross Christopher - Awakenmusic.blogspot.com

You’d think that having seven members in one band would just result in a messy, cluster of noise. Where’s Lawrence?, however, seem to have no trouble in making it work to their advantage.

After sifting through our rather disappointing selection of Sonic Bids submissions for these past couple of months, there were only a small handful of groups that managed to stand out. Where’s Lawrence? was one of those groups.

Perhaps it was the fact that they hail from Northwest, Arkansas. Perhaps it was the fact that they have seven members in their band. Or, perhaps it was the fact that their instrumentation includes several guitars, percussion, violin, glockenspiel, keyboards and a ukulele. Either way, they use this broad range of instrumentation to their advantage. What I was assuming to hear was an over-produced, over-arranged cluster of noise. What I heard, however, was very clever, simple and very well produced folk-rock.

Their first major debut The Boy in the Well (available on iTunes and CDbaby) was released this past January. According to the band, it took over two years to write and only about ten days to record (another reason why the production is surprisingly good). The fact that it’s a concept-album (referring specifically to life, death and rebirth) is something that can often turn listeners away before even giving it a chance. However, I assure you that The Boy in the Well is an excellent folk-rock record that will surely please your ears if you happen to be a fan of the genre.

Posted below is the title track from the album, “The Boy in the Well.” Be sure to check back in a day or two though, as I’m sure I’ll be posting at least one more track from these guys up in our mp3 section.

Written By: Kennangaynor - Praiseforwallflower.com