Family
of the Year’s story began in 2009, when Joe assembled a band
around an album, Songbook, that he completed while decompressing from a
five-year stint with Unbusted, the alt-rock trio he started in Boston
with Sebastian that gained some notoriety for its inclusion on the
soundtrack to the Farrelly brothers’ film Stuck On You. Instead of
relying on the distortion of his past, suddenly pianos, horns, acoustic
guitars, and other assorted instrumentation were being used to display
a more sophisticated—yet equally as playful—indie-rock sound that
brings to mind classic pop bands like The Smiths, The Byrds, Fleetwood
Mac, and The Go-Betweens.
To say that Family of the Year has accomplished a lot in a short amount
of time would be an understatement. In addition to Songbook, the band
has issued a pair of EPs on its own Washashore Records imprint – 2009’s
Where’s The Sun, 2010’s Through The Trees – in addition to last year’s
2011’s St. Croix. Songs from all four discs have made their way onto
various international releases. Media attention has come from various
corners of the world, including heavy rotation on French radio as well
as glowing reviews from NME, BBC, IFC, Rolling Stone and Spin.
