Leopold and His Fiction

"The band, who is working on their third album with the help of producer Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Devandra Banhart, Beachwood Sparks, Little Joy), gave us a sneak preview of their first single 'Golden Friends'. And boy, do I like what I hear. The song oozes that 70s era blues-rock vibe I love so much. And if the rest of the album is as good as this track, we’re in for a treat." --The OCMD

"This is a sassy, sexy little number that gave me something to think about. It's not only the vocals, delivered in such a manner as to make your mind wander south, but it's the whole construction of the thing, with its gentle lead up and then driving, off-kilter beat. Rawr!" --Love Shack, Baby

"...haunting and scratchy, and sounds as if it was conjured up in the backrooms of old Western saloons over whiskey and cigarettes." --Tympanogram

"This trio is a trip to watch, boiling and smashing a diverse range of musical genres that is both ethereal and bombastic." --Denise Guerra, Campus Circle Newspaper

“Golden Friends” is one of those rare blues/rock hybrids that all but defies “simple” descriptions, with vocals that deftly blend Jimmy Page and Jack White in a raw recording that does everything within its power to bring the live experience into the studio, whatever the cost. The band is up to the challenge." --Hear! Hear!

"...recent track "Golden Friends" muddies leftover '60s mysticism with the usual Motor City muck." --A.V. Club, Austin

"But nostalgia aside, the talent that’s been concentrated in Leopold and His Fiction really makes me think, ‘holy shit, it’s true—the essence of rock n roll music will never die if it keeps passing along and aging like this’". --Domingo Antonio Robledo Lost at E Minor

"With a knack for vintage sound and vintage gear, San Francisco’s Leopold and His Fiction provide expansive lo-fi rock and roll with varying shades of country and blues." --spOOOnful.com

"Songs like “Miss Manipulation” serve-up slide guitar and a distinct folk country feel, while the album’s title track stands out as a soulful blend of sultry vocals and driving rhythms. With this latest release, Leopold and His Fiction have really upped the ante and set out to reinvent all the best things about rock n’ roll." --JFelton, Record Dept.

"Singer/songwriter Daniel James maintains a modern sensibility and ironic delivery of his storyteller lyrics. Overall, the studio sound is polished and controlled, as seen with Jon Sortland's tight, rolling drums on "Be Still." But the live performances are energetic and exciting in a way that borders on completely off the hook, yet manages to hold it together. Take, for instance, Macayla Grace's bouncing/dancing bassplaying at SXSW 2010, which begins with full-on headbanging and ends in a beautiful solo/duet James on lead guitar." --BAMM.TV

The blues-rock outfit has been a favorite of mine since their debut EP five years ago, and it has become a great “music experience” to watch them grow and become the wrecking ball that they are today…Without a doubt, “Golden Friends” is the strongest tune I’ve heard from Leopold. The dark, brooding track screams and echos like a mashup of The Doors and Wolfmother.” --Front Porch Musings

"Judging by this listen of 'Golden Friends' things are going just as well as my first sentence implies. The freak-folk sound of the seventies is alive and well, complete with some awesome organ and bluesy electric guitar. Lava-lamp worthy for sure." -- Stranger Dance

"'Golden Friends' has a slower, haunting feel, like a creeping car ride through darkly winding city streets, or perhaps a trip explored on foot while sneaking sideways glances at whiskey-breathed strangers." -- Foundwaves Blog

"'With Thom Monahan (Pernice Brothers) producing, the lighter swamp blues soul of “Golden” is something I could hear Tom Waits howling in a graveyard—although Daniel James’ molasses voice is plenty sexy." -- Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover

"Who needs a good throw back to psychedelic 60’s rock? i thought so. This is a track from this San Francisco garage trio’s forthcoming third album and it’s so sexy I’ve got a strong urge to dust off some bell-bottoms and do some unmentionable recreational naughties with some hopefully good-looking strangers." --HumFink Song of the Day

"While the sound is certainly expansive, Leopold and His Fiction also manages to exude a certain kind of folk-tinged, backwoods charm that makes them much more than just a straight up rock-and-roll band." --NPR Second Stage

"Their convergence results in angsty blues-flavored rock ‘n’ roll, that when paired with James’ story-inspired lyrics evokes the feel of Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home. " --Relix Band on the Verge

"Leopold And His Fiction manages these small, amusing feats but more importantly Daniel James is a wicked good songwriter-musician capable of evoking some primo ancestors over the course of this dead solid, warmly wrapped 11-song effort." --Jambase

"Groovy ‘60s bop...sung by James in a hard-edge haughty voice somewhere between Van Morrison, Jim Morrison, and Eric Burdon being channeled by Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Straight-up rot gut." --Big Takeover

"It’s a sonically consistent listen from beginning to end; it has a ragged garage-rock feel that’s not too ramshackle, but just enough to keep it in line with a purely DIY rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic…The results of having consumed holy musical ambrosia like 1960’s British blues rock, American garage rock and mid-‘60s Bob Dylan." --Performer Magazine

“Ain’t No Surprise expertly vacillates between garage-rock, not so freakish freak-folk, and Americana without ever feeling scattered or haphazardly executed… Leopold’s knowledge of the tricks in their repertoire allows the album to maintain excitement throughout, while also varying up the songs’ mood enough to keep Ain’t No Surprise constantly intriguing.” -- Alex Pudlin, Red Alert

Leopold and his Fiction performs a Session with Luxury Wafers and leaves them anticipating the release of their third album. “Daniel pours his heart out earnestly through his raspy, sometimes rambling vocals and sonorous guitar licks, supported like family by John and Micayla, who are equally invested in crafting the band's sound.”

Parlour to Parlour Session (February 15, 2009) --PopDose

New Talent To Watch--“Steeped in the Rock vibe of his hometown Detroit - think MC5, Stooges, White Stripes - Leopold frontman Daniel James plays with a harder edge than his southern brethren in the LA canyons…Listening to ‘Broke’ is like opening the door to a San Francisco garage that hasn’t been touched since 1967. Pure class.” --Tuneraker

"Kinda like the Kings of Leon before that band got dull, Leopold and His Fiction plays meta-rock with all sorts of rootsy trappings...Best of all, this stuff is played with style and energy." --Aiding & Abetting

"Lead singer/songwriter Daniel James has crafted an album that’s enjoyable from start to finish - it’s a gritty, gruff, hard-edged document from an exciting young band" --Pop Headwound

Friday Mixtape XXVIII-- Consequence of Sound

"Leopold is more than tavern worthy; they’re downright gritty, filled with enough ferocity to rile up any dive and blow it clean out of the water...The result is astounding. " --FensePost

"Leopold and His Fiction are a threesome set apart with a brash, bluesy garage rock sound that draws influence from a plethora of artists." --Hear Ya

Influenza with Daniel James-- --Culture Bully

"Melded with various fragments of blues, punk and alt-country for a roiling and rumbling rock n’ roll mixture with exhilarating solos" --Delusions of Adequacy

“Their meta-rock sound embraces the twang of Johnny Cash, the vocal timbre of Bob Dylan, the Allman Brothers’ southern rock and The White Stripes’ garage rock rawness and combines it into a sound of their own. Ain’t No Surprise is stripped down with energetic guitar blues rock that invokes western despair, the big city gutter and southern back country.” --Record Dept.

"Dirty with the dust of thousands of miles of road, Ain’t No Surprise will lull you with its earthy feel and worm its way inside your head." --Wildy's World

"The trio is completely tight and incorporate a real southern edged flare to their music while not going too far with the twang" --The Fire Note

"The collection of 11 songs sounds contemporary and fits in well with the recent country-folk revival; yet non-contemporary musicians like the Rolling Stones and Nick Drake are obvious influences." --Revolt

Local Frequency (March 4, 2010) --SF Weekly
"An upbeat, folk-twinged, energetic aesthetic…Frontman Daniel James uses a twangy guitar style and vivid lyrics to depict stories of his upbringing in Detroit. The keyboards, bass, and backup vocals from Jon Sortland and Micalya Grace lift James' raspy, Southern rock vocals to an approachable sound that softens his tough Rust Belt upbringing.”

"Founding front man Daniel James hails from Detroit and imbues his music with the gritty and soulful nature of that city. His bluesman's rasp adds a rustic layer to his garage rock cadence. The music is similarly an amalgam of '60s garage, folk and blues, establishing Leopold and His Fiction in the Bay Area as anachronistic minstrels of Americana." --SF Chronicle

" A trio that turns pieces of garage rock, folk, psych and Americana into a remarkably cohesive and engaging mix called ‘vintage rock’… The group has accomplished no easy feat, turning its melting pot of influences into songs that, for all the talk of ‘vintage,’ feel both innovative and exciting.” -- The Bay Bridged

" The bluesy, raucous rock 'n' roll of bands from the MC5 to the White Stripes (frontman Daniel James hails from Detroit, after all) trades punches with subtler, more transcendent alt-country that Ryan Adams could love." --East Bay Express

10 Local Bands to Watch for in 2010 -- Live 105

“Mixture of rock and folk with some blues influences.” -- WRUV

“But we're most excited for Leopold and His Fiction, the local band making a splash with their folk-tinged, angsty blues.” -- 7x7

Click Here to Listen to Leopold and his Fiction's full interview with KQED (PBS)

“Where big city meets country, that’s where you’ll find these grunge-folk musicians.” --SF Examiner

"With a current catalogue of two previous albums and a couple of new tracks thrown to the pilgrims from the band`s eagerly awaited third long player, a huge bag of moody passion was streamed towards a near death experience this weekend." --Mojophenia

“The group’s new music was solid and refreshing.” --Las Vegas Sun

“San Francisco three piece Leopold and His Fiction were quite possibly the best thing to come out of this February's Neon Reverb Festival.” --Las Vegas Weekly

“The ebullient, vigorous rock opera of San Francisco’s Leopold and His Fiction [is] perhaps the sleeper of the festival thus far.” --Las Vegas CityLife regarding the Neon Reverb Festival

“Leopold and His Fiction make music that sounds inspired by a pile of obscure ’60s-era vinyl thrift-store scores. With vintagey organ riffs, moody vocals and a muddied sonic sheen, the songs here marry a Detroit-rock aesthetic with a hint of folk-rock philosophy and a Bay Area-worthy psychedelia.” --Sacramento News Review

"In San Fran Dan and his band would grow into the critically lauded, psychedelic-vintage-garage, six-legged rock beast that it is today." --Metromix Detroit

"The trio mixes Motor City garage-rock riffs with California folk a la Devendra Barnhart (not to mention Black Keys-esque vocals and the dark mystery of the Doors). According to James, the songwriting efforts behind Leopold and His Fiction thrive as the band travels on tour." --Athens News

“Borrowing heavily from Detroit Motown and groovy 60s pop for their sound, the group pulls out all of the stops live to move their audience.” -- Jesse Locks, The Union

Talented trio Leopold and His Fiction Reaches Deep --The Olympian

"No doubt about it, these literary rapscallions still rock and will bring their highfalutin yet down and dirty sounds." --Flagstaff Live
Read the complete Sound Check preview

"Songs by the aptly named Leopold and His Fiction seem almost like short stories collected by an itinerant traveler hitchhiking his way across the country. With raspy narration by singer Daniel James, the music feels drenched in world-weary mystery, populated by the lonely souls who haunt empty bus stations, dusty back-road gas stations, and crumbling saloons."
--Foundwaves

“They play like a subdued Whiskeytown, sloshed from the wistful fumes of coastal deserts…The heel taps, the hands clap, and the head paces to the bucking gait of the percussion."--Relix Review

“Twangy blues, executed by a dynamic trio [complete with] a feather-adorned cowboy-hated frontman whose yowling voice is a well-equipped vehicle through which to drive their raw, rootsy compositions.” --Crawdaddy

"Another big impression that Leopold’s live show made upon me was simply how enthusiastic the crowd was...part of this is due to how much life is injected into Daniel’s songs simply by the band’s natural chemistry stretching out on stage and adding a dose of adrenaline to the music. Part of it too has to do with the fact that the band has some hardcore followers with infectious personalities." --PopDose

"The band’s strongest point was their high-wire energy; bassist Micayla Grace high heel danced her way through the set and James gestured emphatically, encompassing the audience and sky in his singing. By the last song James was in the audience, breaking through the empty space the opening band often has to contend with in front of the stage. Listening feels like CCR at a barn dance fronted by an evangelical preacher." --The Bay Bridged

“Be sure to get there on the early side to catch two of my favorites, Birds & Batteries and Leopold and His Fiction... Leopold plays blues-rock with an intensity that makes for great live performances.” --KQED

"Our surprising favorites were the garage-blues trio Leopold And His Fiction...Their impressive stage presence this early in the game definitely did not go unnoticed and we look forward to their huge accomplishments in the near future." --The Owl Mag

"Fortunately, there was San Francisco trio Leopold & His Fiction and their rip-roaring set of country-soul post-punk. With bassist Micayla Grace stomping in rhythm to drummer Jon Sortland's barnstorming fills, guitarist Daniel James dialed up choogaloo on 2008 title track 'Ain't No Surprise' with style coming straight out of the 1970s." (SXSW 2010) -- Chase Hoffberger, Austin Chronicle