B-Side Guys

Chicago quintet Socially Acceptable’s transformation from campus cover band to original artists reaches new altitudes with “Astronaut,” recorded in the historic confines of Wicker Park’s Gravity Studios. The September 2024 release demonstrates how five years of playing weddings and bars can crystallize into something unexpectedly cosmic when filtered through pandemic-era creative exploration.

The track’s opening lines establish an immediate sense of cognitive dissonance: “I connect the dots/But I’m stopped by some strange paradox.” This tension between understanding and confusion runs throughout the song, reinforced by the band’s decision to merge Latin-prog rock elements with their alternative foundation. The resulting “samba” fusion provides an unconventional launchpad for their lyrical exploration.

Luke Luhrsen’s vocal delivery navigates between casual observation and existential pondering, particularly evident in the surreal image of an “astronaut with a reservation at the restaurant.” This juxtaposition of the cosmic and mundane creates a compelling narrative thread that ties together the song’s various musical elements.

The production, courtesy of Gravity Studios, demonstrates remarkable spatial awareness. Each instrument occupies its own orbit, with Michael Leszczynski’s bass work and Alex Panayiotou’s drums providing a gravitational center for Dominic DeAngelis’ guitar explorations and Ernie Santeralli’s keyboard textures to circle around.

Lyrically, the song charts a course through disconnection and perspective shift. The repeated mention of being “sixty-two miles from ground” – the exact boundary where Earth’s atmosphere meets space – serves as both literal distance marker and metaphor for emotional removal. The observation that “you couldn’t hear a sound/From this new perspective” gains power through its scientific accuracy.

The arrangement’s progression from verse to chorus mirrors the journey from ground to orbit, with instrumental layers building and falling away like rocket stages. This structural choice pays off particularly well in the bridge section, where the Latin-prog influences emerge most strongly, creating a weightless moment before returning to the song’s core groove.

Most impressive is how the band has maintained their live energy while pushing into more complex compositional territory. Lines like “Upper echelon/Got to get them children off my lawn” could feel forced in less capable hands, but the band’s years of live performance experience allows them to sell such transitions with natural confidence.

What elevates “Astronaut” above simple space rock metaphor is its grounding in concrete imagery. The “chocolate box” inspiration and “local bar” references keep the cosmic exploration tethered to recognizable experience, making the philosophical observations feel earned rather than imposed.

This release suggests that Socially Acceptable’s evolution from fraternity house covers to original material isn’t just a linear progression but a genuine artistic transformation. Their ability to merge their diverse musical backgrounds into a coherent whole while maintaining their characteristic energy points toward exciting possibilities in their continuing trajectory.