Free Energy

Free Energy formed in the aftermath of the Minneapolis-based indie rock group Hockey Night’s tumultuous breakup in 2007. The band coalesced in the two years following the split, when former Hockey Night members Scott Wells and Paul Sprangers relocated to Philadelphia, teamed up with Geoff Bucknum, Nicholas Shuminsky, and Evan Wells, and made a batch of freewheeling indie rock tunes in the vein of glam and arena rock acts like Thin Lizzy and T. Rex. While he was never an official member of the band, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy worked with Sprangers and Wells on Free Energy’s first recordings, both as a producer and, in the band’s early days, as a bassist. Free Energy’s debut 7″ single, Free Energy/Something in Common, was released on Murphy’s label, DFA Records, in 2009. A three-track EP followed that fall, and a full-length album titled Stuck on Nothing was released in March of 2010. After striking out from DFA and forming their own Free Energy Records, the band began recording with producer Jeff Glixman — who was behind the desk when Kansas recorded “Dust in the Wind” — but only one unreleased song resulted. Next, they turned to seasoned producer John Agnello to get the kind of slick, radio-friendly (if you time traveled back to 1981) sound they were after. During this time they lost guitarist Bucknum, who was replaced by Sheridan Fox. The group’s second album, Love Sign, was released in January of 2013.