Buzz on September 27th, 2010

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When Chicago natives Empires made their debut album “Howl” available online in 2008, it was downloaded 15,000 times in its first week of release. Now, even allowing for the fact that they were giving it away, those are still impressive stats for an unsigned and relatively unknown band. Fast-forward a couple of years, and the five-piece has self-released another album’s worth of material, two songs at a time. The latest EP, “Bang.” follows the now tried-and-tested formula of anthemic, hook-laden pop-rock that is feeding an eager and growing fanbase. SoCal followers have an opportunity to see Empires this week when the band make their Los Angeles debut opening for Scottish rockers Biffy Clyro at the Bootleg Theater.

||| Download: “Damn Things Over”

||| Live: Empires opens for Biffy Clyro at the Bootleg Theater on Thursday.

– By David McKay