The Family Crest

The Family Crest is a San Francisco based septet that infuses their pop sound with a heavy dose of classically inspired chamber music, some folk, and occasionally, new swing. The band boasts quite a few classically trained musicians on its roster and is led by guitarist and singer Liam McCormick, their main songwriter. Their arrangements use elements of classical music, including a good size orchestra complete with strings and brass sections that evoke a sense of a large concert hall. In addition to the depth and fullness of the sound they produce, they are also ambitious in the way they develop their musical themes and layer their instruments to create a level of complexity that reaches baroque levels at times. That said, their melodic core is firmly grounded in the folk and pop approach such that if all the orchestration were to be stripped away, what remains would arguably sound much closer to the expansive indie folk style of bands like Midlake or The Lumineers.