Atlas Genius

Hooky, sharp-edged synth rockers Atlas Genius draw from influences such as Phoenix, the Beatles, and Beck. Their emergence was anything but gradual: when their 2011 debut single, "Trojans," was featured on a blog, it was greeted with tens of thousands of downloads, a record deal, and an eventual hundreds of millions of plays with the rise of streaming services in the years to follow. The tune helped land their 2013 debut album, When It Was Now, in the Billboard 200 Top 40. Their second full-length, 2015's Inanimate Objects, didn't fare quite as well but still placed in the bottom half of the chart while becoming an alternative Top 20 hit. Although the band continued to tour off and on and release the occasional single, it was nearly ten years before they returned with their third LP, End of the Tunnel -- and a familiar sound -- in 2024.Hailing from Adelaide, South Australia, Atlas Genius were the brainchild of the Jeffery brothers -- vocalist/guitarist Keith, bassist Steven, and drummer Michael -- and their English friend, keyboardist Darren Sell. The Jefferys were raised in a musical family; their father came from an engineering background, and he and the boys' mother were both big Beatles fans and encouraged them to form a band of their own. Starting in 2009, Atlas Genius spent two years building their own studio and working as a cover band to pay the bills. Upon completing the studio, they began recording in earnest, with "Trojans" becoming the first song they recorded. After the song was distributed online in May 2011, the blog Neon Gold featured it, and the response from fans and the music industry was enthusiastic, resulting in offers from record labels and over 45,000 downloads in the U.S. alone before they even signed a deal. After airplay on MTV's 120 Minutes and Sirius XM's Alt Nation channel, the band visited the U.S. in early 2012 to decide on a label. By the time Atlas Genius signed with Warner Bros., the band was a trio consisting of Keith and Michael Jeffery and Sell. The label released the group's debut EP, Through the Glass, in June of that year. The band's debut album, When It Was Now, was also recorded in their own studio and was released in February 2013. It cracked the Top 40 of the Billboard 200 and led to continued, extensive touring and multiple late-night TV appearances in the U.S. The band took a break from performing in 2014 and returned in mid-2015 without Sell. Recorded in Adelaide and Studio City, California, with co-writer/producer Frederik Thaae, their sophomore full-length, Inanimate Objects, arrived on Warner Bros. in August 2015. It peaked at number 150 on the Billboard 200 while entering the Top 20 and Top 30 of the alternative and rock charts, respectively. By 2017, Steven Jeffrey had returned to the group, and Dave Green had joined as guitarist. That year, Atlas Genius toured with Magic Giant and Flor and released the single "63 Days." Songs including "Can't Be Alone Tonight" (2019) and "Elegant Strangers" (2021) appeared over the next few years, all of which, including "63 Days," were present on their third album, End of the Tunnel. Released independently on Frog Head Records, it saw release in September of 2024, around the time that Warner reissued their debut album on limited-edition vinyl.
© Heather Phares & Marcy Donelson /TiVo

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