YOU SHOULD BE LISTENING TO: Scranton progressive alt rock band Family Animals
City: Scranton
Genre(s): Psychedelic rock, progressive rock, alternative rock
Years active: 2008-present
Sounds like: This music sets the stage for an epic journey, telling a winding story that you don’t quite realize you’re following until you’re already immersed in it. These tunes take the sometimes overindulgent elements of progressive rock and replaces them with earnest jamming and funky, ethereal grooves that throw you for a loop just when you think you’ve pinned their sound to the ground you’ve been dancing on – or moshing on, depending on the song (sometimes in the same song)!
Take some classic prog, throw in some ’90s alternative, and mix well with some modern experimental rock and you’ll start to get any idea of what they sound like, but the trio prefers calling it “just rock,” which is exactly what they do. Their recordings sound great, but like all the best bands, the live jamming is where it’s at.
For fans of: Meat Puppets, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Rush, Yes, The Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Led Zeppelin, Grateful Dead, and Phish
Number of albums/EPs released: Four (two full-length albums, “Family Animals” in 2010 and “I Must Have Missed It” in 2015, and two EPs, “Bonfire” in 2011 and “And to All a Good Night” in 2012)
Latest album/EP: “I Must Have Missed It,” released Nov. 14, 2015
Fun fact: When they aren’t playing music, the three band members are usually fishing together.
Online: Facebook, Bandcamp, and YouTube
Upcoming shows:
June 25: The Other Side (119 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre) with The Dead Woods and Doghouse Charlie, 9:30 p.m.
July 16: Rockin’ the Mountain at Mountain Sky (63 Stillmeadow Lane, Jermyn), all-day event
Learn more about Family Animals and their newest album in Episode 38 of the NEPA Scene Podcast.
Photo by Jess Meoni
