Living Things

The early 2000s marked the arrival of The Living Things, whose approach fused punk-derived songwriting with pointed political content. Frontman Lillian Berlin emerged as the group’s most vocal member, having spent his upbringing in the St. Louis suburbs together with brothers Eve Berlin and Bosh Berlin, both of whom would later join the band. While all three siblings felt like outsiders, Lillian encountered the sharpest difficulties, turning away from ordinary teenage pastimes toward literature by Jack Kerouac, Jim Carroll, and Sylvia Plath as well as music. He started on guitar in childhood, prompting Eve to take up bass and Bosh to handle drums.

Upon turning 18, Lillian relocated to Los Angeles with his brothers. Armed with a notebook of compositions, a confident presence, and a moniker drawn from a 1960s poster stating “War is not healthy for children and other living things,” the band coalesced. Area performances generated interest from multiple labels, resulting in a contract with DreamWorks near the close of 2002.

Steve Albini produced the Turn in Your Friends & Neighbors EP, which surfaced in December 2003, and stayed on to oversee the full-length debut Black Skies in Broad Daylight. That album first appeared in February 2004 before Jive Records reissued it with an altered track list as Ahead of the Lions. “Bom Bom Bom” gained traction on modern rock radio, drawing favorable notices from numerous publications while the brothers prepared their follow-up. They moved to Berlin, installed themselves at Hansa Tonstudio, and delivered the politically focused punk of Habeas Corpus, released worldwide in February 2009.