The Orwells

The Orwells are an American rock band from Elmhurst, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. The members include Mario Cuomo (vocals), Dominic Corso (guitar), Matt O'Keefe (guitar), Grant Brinner (bass), and Henry Brinner (drums). Their debut album Remember When was released on August 7, 2012 through Autumn Tone Records. Their first EP entitled Other Voices was released on June 24, 2013 on National Anthem Records. The band's second EP, Who Needs You, was released on September 10, 2013, also through National Anthem.
 
The Orwells formed when all the members were in high school. Corso and Cuomo are cousins and the Brinners are twin brothers and all of the members of the band have been family friends for years. The band was discovered in late 2011 by Aquarium Drunkard blogger Justin Gage, who signed them to his Autumn Tone label imprint. They graduated high school early in 2013 to pursue their musical career. The Orwells were named one of the most criminally overlooked artists of 2012 in MTV's annual list. Their single Mallrats (La La La) has been reviewed by the popular music website, Pitchfork They performed at Lollapalooza in August 2013. The Orwells are currently working on releasing their second album which is scheduled to be released on September 10, 2013.
 
The song &Who Needs You?& was featured on the August 6, 2013 episode of NPR's All Songs Considered. Co-host Bob Boilen said of the group, &You can't say The Orwells without saying 'young,& and called the song his summer anthem.
 
On November 5, 2013, The Orwells appeared on Later... with Jools Holland. On November 22, 2013, Arctic Monkeys announced that The Orwells would be their support at nine American concerts in January and February 2014. The Orwells performed on Late Show with David Letterman January 15, 2014. Their performance was enthusiastically received, so much that Letterman and others called for an encore. The band did not respond, partly because guitarist Matt O'Keefe had broken all of his strings and physically could not play. After waiting for the Orwells, the house band reprised the Orwells' song and Paul Schaffer parodied the way that Mario Cuomo had lain on his back, thrashing.