"Let it Rain", New single by Living Things now available for streaming.

 

Habeas Corpus, the second album by Living Things, is a slingshot of
modern Americana, arching from St. Louis through Chicago, New York City,
London and Los Angeles to pierce the international vagabond outpost of
Berlin; as seen through the eyes of four political junkies, high on the
poet and the layman's right to intellectual freedom.  The themes they
cover include life, love, money, religion and war in these turbulent
times.

"In some ways I've looked at this whole record as a celebration of the
uncertain times ahead," says lead vocalist and lyricist Lillian Berlin.
Anthemic, prophetic, bumping and grooving through Habeas Corpus, Living
Things have taken their journey from St. Louis, the city where
old-timers pick out the blues on their porches and giant signs proclaim
"Guns Save Lives" and "Jesus Saves", on to new cities and new horizons
of the mind.  Yet St. Louis and the contorting contradictions that this
city wears is never far from their minds, it's still the homestead to
which they continue to sing their own fiery hymns of revolution and
revelation.

The scream of four angry young men has been replaced with a record that
brands flesh by way of a more elegant, textured fury that enters with
jagged edges yet brings curves and love. The lead single "Let It Rain"
is the acknowledgement that surrender to acceptance is the road back to
strength.

Habeas Corpus was birthed in the beating heart of Hansa Recording
Studios in Berlin, Germany, an expansive ballroom once used by the
German military at the height of their powers to entertain society with
classical recitals. Today, through a line of wide, tall windows, a
virgin dawn breaks over the dark city skyline, touching Potzdamer Plaza
where the Berlin Wall once stood and sweeping across a Gothic city that
is blinking in the light of a new future.

Inside three rock'n'roll adventurers in residence attacked their
guitars, taking their cue from the beating drums of fourth member Bosh
Berlin which, with the wide acoustics of the ballroom, sounded like
rolling peals of thunder, pumping bright blood through the dank air of
this ancient, cavernous six-floored building. Drums, cables and
percussive instruments were strewn across the floor. A Chamberlain box
(etched with graffiti by previous Hansa recording tenants, "David+Iggy")
kicked up freaked out distortion and noise. To one side lay an old metal
army suitcase heaving with notebooks full of lyrics, riffs and ideas
scribbled by Lillian, some as old as ten years and others as new as here
and now. When his brother Eve dropped his bass guitar to reach for one
of the timbales, congas or shakers at his feet, a Star of David was
revealed tattooed on his arm.

"Berlin is like a scar that reminds us how serious bombs, weapons and
dictators are," says Eve (who of all four band members soaked up the
Dionysian delights of Berlin the most). "For us, to be writing our own
version of soul music inside Hansa, knowing that once upon a time the
most evil powers gathered there, yet there we were looking out the
windows and seeing that good prevails felt really powerful. Now Berlin
is a great city.  It was a reminder how things can change if we take the
blindfold off and don't let power and greed ruin us.

The three brothers Lillian, Eve and Bosh Berlin have been in a band
together since grade school. "We have a concrete basement at the bottom
of our parents house; we've been rehearsing in it since we were kids and
recorded half our first album in it," says Lillian. "It was totally our
own world where at one point everybody lost their virginity, tried drugs
for the first time, wrote our first songs. It was the nucleus of our
reality." The three boys would disappear into the basement and play
music late into the night. "There are also a lot of caves in St. Louis,"
continues Lillian. "We'd go down to the caves after rehearsing, hold
parties and the band would play. Two to three hundred people would fit
into the caves and the music would go on until either the power
generators blew, the cops came or the sun came up. Then we'd all go
skinny-dipping in the Missouri River."

With Lillian on vocals and guitar, Eve on bass and Bosh on drums the
boys migrated to Chicago then New York then across to LA, up to Canada
over to Europe and back. Inspired by a 60s poster that read "War is not
healthy for children and other living things" the band found its name.
Joining them both on the journey and guitar came childhood friend Cory
Becker at the end of recording their debut album Ahead Of The Lions
(released October 4, 2005 on Jive/Zomba, including the tracks "Bombs
Below," "I Owe" and "Bom Bom Bom," featured in a Cingular television
commercial.)  Big, brotherly bust-ups and arguments are par for the
course with the Berlin boys ("things don't get going until one or all of
us has thrown down their instruments and started yelling") and Cory
turned three into a balanced four.

While relentlessly touring the critically praised Ahead Of The Lions
Lillian was loved and hated for visceral actions like burning George
Bush posters onstage. "This whole idea of speaking out against the
wrongdoings of government was something that we were taught at a very
young age by our mother who protested in the 60s and 70s," says Lillian.
"When I first started writing songs it felt natural to sing about
socially conscious ideas. Early on, as a young band, we were admonished
not to talk about this or that.  But an artist is in many ways a
reflection of what is going on in their surroundings and they're going
to express what is affecting them.  We write about what interests us."

This doesn't always lead to a happy result.  After one gig Lillian was
jumped and beaten by angry Bush supporters who fired a gun, the bullet
whizzing past Lillian's ear. "We've been perceived in some corners as an
anti-American band but that's the furthest away from what we are," says
Eve, "We love our country and that's why we care to understand the
reality of where it stands, how to make it better, and sing about it.
What inspires us most is what's going on in the world.  Sometimes you
need to step outside and look back in to have more perspective on your
own country, to see what's really going on.  We're not content to wait
50 years for the history to be written."

Living Things haven't changed their vision to fit anybody's desire for
politeness; instead they've pursued their own musical story, coming back
up for air with a new chapter.

"Lillian came up with the name of the album and it sums up a lot of
things," says Eve. "Habeas Corpus is supposed to safeguard our
individual freedom against arbitrary state action. It's supposed to
protect us from unlawful imprisonment by a rogue government.  So many
people we meet don't even know their rights have been eroded lately.
But we need to be aware of these rights to protect them."

Lillian sums up his philosophy:  "Society is divided into two
antagonistic factions, those who issue the orders and those who obey the
orders. The problem is the ones who issue the orders have abused their
authority and have seduced society into abdicating their rights. It's
time to learn to recite your rights like the ABC's and 123's so you are
aware of what you're giving up."

Eve added: "We really value our constitutional right to express
ourselves.  When somebody says rock'n'roll to me it means freedom, being
who you are, running wild and letting it all hang out.

 

DISCOGRAPHY

EP (2003) Turn In Your Friends and Neighbors (SKG); US only

EP (2003) The Blackout Generation (Loog); UK only

EP (2004) Resight Your Rights (DreamWorks)

Album (2004) Black Skies in Broad Daylight (Universal); not released in
US

Album (2005) Ahead of the Lions (Jive/Zomba)

Album (2009) Habeas Corpus (Jive/Zomba)

 

Check out livingthingsmusic.com <http://www.livingthingsmusic.com/>  for
more information

"Let It Rain"

Let It Rain (QT, Streaming, 127k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.qtl?pid=0c_ix9riXV0iBumRvSAK1_9vo
wFDFZD3&UserName=Unknown

Let It Rain (QT, Streaming, 86k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.qtl?pid=C6TjatLMxZ9ZzAM61syCXqvdk
vQg5fYZ&UserName=Unknown

Let It Rain (WM, Streaming, 96k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=0KPl8LXfWeiDuE6wa3nisg
un8B2Sfivg&UserName=Unknown

Let It Rain (WM, Streaming, 64k, Audio)

http://release.theplatform.com/content.select?pid=7SrRiEtCxk6iw_60k0PuVf
M9w00Vz_Kq&UserName=Unknown