Dayton, Ohio's Lab Partners were introduced to us via our friends at Under the Radar Magazine for one of our Shoegazer Ball compilations and we've been mates ever since. They've toured with everyone from The Warlocks to BRMC and they've put out a string of amazing releases. Reverb released their 4th full length album "Wicked Branches" and among others, it quickly became a huge, huge favorite of the label’s followers.  The band also released an amazing EP on Reverb entitled “Keep Quiet” in May of 2007 to a load of great reviews.

The band was originally formed in 1998 by guitarist/vocalist Mike Smith and keyboardist Amy Smith, the band originally featured lead guitarist Kevin Parrett (A Ten O'Clock Scholar) and drummer Matt Schulz, who has been a longtime collaborator with Mike Smith dating back from their days together in Honeyburn.  Schulz went on to perform full-time duty with Enon. Today Lab Partners' drum work is handled by Kevin Vaughn and features veteran rocker Mike Volk on lead guitar (also formerly of Honeyburn and Let's Crash). Lab Partners also serve as one of the few bands not to include a bass player, with Amy Smith's keyboards and sequencer work uniquely filling in the low end of the rock spectrum.

Lab Partners have been fairly prolific over the last several years. Their release Daystar originally put them on the map with national press and radio really hopping on board. Spin Magazine called them a “Band To Watch” and Under The Radar Magazine and Pitchfork Media both talked the band up in a big way. Tours with The Warlocks, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and US Maple also helped win the band some great new friends as they criss-crossed the country winning over fans with their powerful live shows. Their most recent album Moonlight Music was released on the legendary Pravda Record label to much success.

 

LAB PARTNERS
Keep Quiet E.P.
2007 Reverb Records


Littleradio.com Sampler
Various Artists
2005 Littleradio.com / Split USA

WICKED BRANCHES
2005 Reverb Records

THE FUZZY BALL
Various Artists
2004 Reverb Records

TEST TONES VOLUME 2
Various Artists
2003 Claire Records

DAYSTAR
2002 Big Beef Records

TURN IT ON
2000 Lab Partners

OUR MUSIC CINCINNATI
Various Artists
2000 Our Music

 


LAB PARTNERS
1999 Lab Partners
     


REVIEWS

SPIN MAGAZINE
"BAND TO WATCH. ..Epic, old-style dream pop radioed in from the spaceways of Dayton, Ohio.  Mixing the brainy cloudbursts of Ride with the druggy swagger of Spaceman 3, the LAB PARTNERS bring the genre closer to earth with instantly hummable songs that are at once affecting and remote."

 

SKYSCRAPER MAGAZINE
This five-track EP (Keep Quiet) reveals an increased sense of dynamics and subtlety in this spacey, underexposed Dayton, Ohio, indie rock band. With strong songs and expansive layers and textures of guitars and keyboard, this follow-up to 2005's Wicked Branches engages and mesmerizes. Ranging from the swirly-but-punchy title track to slower, more spacious moods, the band pays more attention to smaller details on this release, which follows two full-length albums. Influences seem to range from the twelve-string psychedelia of The Byrds and The Church, to the nineties shoegaze rock of Ride and early Verve, to the droning, narcotic compositions of Spacemen 3 and Spiritualized, and the power-packed, Who-stoked disaffection of Swervedriver.


UNDER THE RADAR MAGAZINE
"Enough layers, grooves, and space-rock psychedelics to give bands like BRMC and the Warlocks a run for the effects pedals."

 

PITCHFORK MEDIA
"Beautifully strangled notes gasp for air through waves of feedback while the vocals glide just over top, clean and clear. It's lush, flowery music that easily lends itself to such lush, flowery description, and the early tests are a real success... "Lab Partners have seen farther because they usually just stand on the shoulders of giants, not because they've ripped them off."

 

IMPACT WEEKLY
"The group's lofty, space-bound indie sounds reflect Coldplay and Doves, while offering something special all it?s own. Top-notch melodies with a mellow air of sophistication that clings to the ear like a warm dew of steam."

 

REAL DETROIT WEEKLY
"These charming mystics fuse epic Brit-pop with the stellar capabilities of synth-bass, transplanting supernatural wings on your back and lifting you straight up to Neptune."

 

POP MATTERS
"If Dayton, Ohio's Lab Partners prove anything with their first long-player, Daystar, it's that injecting some power-pop sensibilities into space-rock produces some very fine results. Despite their stratospheric inclinations, they are at their core great pop writers who share a surprising amount in common with Fountains of Wayne, pulling one lush nugget after another from what seems like an inexhaustible supply."

 

NOW ON TOUR
"As narcotic-laced as anything Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is doing and definitely reminiscent of greats like the Jesus & Mary Chain and Ride."

 

SPONIC ZINE
"The wall-of-sound chorus and lazy melodies are as delicious as any morsel on your old My Bloody Valentine albums, although far less browbeaten. What Lab Partners really bring to the psychedelic/space-rock table is a reassuring hand and a warmth of sentiment that's refreshing compared to indie rock's typical distanced irony or detached pathos."