THE LUXURY
Rumble winners leave the basement behind
By NEIL MIROCHNICK



In the mixing and mastering room of Jason Dunn's Mad Science Studios, which doubles as The Luxury lead singer's bedroom, a John Lennon action figure sits high on a window frame.

"You get kicked around for long enough and eventually you develop a taste for the dark, biting wit of Lennon," says Dunn, an eight-year Boston music scene veteran and self-described problematic pseudo-poet.

With The Luxury set to release their second full length, as champions of the WBCN Rock 'n' Roll Rumble, Dunn, the ex-frontman of The Halogens, is shining brighter than ever.

The Luxury opened for Coldplay at the TD Banknorth Garden and toured California last fall. They reached the Rumble final as wild cards, played first, didn't think they'd win and drank their way through three sets between their performance and unexpected coronation.

"Winning surprised the hell out of me," Dunn says. "I barely had any idea what was going on."

The Rumble prize package included studio time in five of Boston's top studios, giving The Luxury the opportunity to re-record an album cut in Dunn's home studio—an Allston basement converted into a live room with money Dunn made selling adult ads for the Boston Phoenix [at least they're good for something—Ed.].

"I always felt we were legitimate as a band, but winning the whole thing lends a palpable legitimacy," Dunn says. "People are paying attention now. ... We're still playing because we love it, but it used to be just because we love it. Now other people seem to legitimately love it too, which is amazing."

On In the Wake of What Won't Change, The Luxury's arena-Britpop races with car-chase intensity. Lush, four-part harmonies carry soaring synths and melodic guitars as The Luxury deftly balance prog leanings with pop sensibility. Without the British accent, Dunn sounds like Michael Stipe nailing an Oasis cover, reaching for notes he draws out.

"I love that huge sound augmented by vocal harmonies. I think the Brits have done a lot better with [that]," Dunn says. "[As an American playing Britrock], I probably in some ways hate my own band. But I try not to think like that."

If the band suffers an international identity crisis, none of the players do. Dunn says each member is "archetypal."

Keyboard-geek Steven Borek spends as much time tinkering with knobs as he does voicing chords. Before joining The Luxury, he analyzed DNA for a biotech company. Bassist Justin "Pez" Day plays like he's in AC/DC and refers to songs as "a piece of meat." Quiet and focused, it's easy to forget guitarist Daanen Krouth is in the room. When bandmates play Guitar Hero, Krouth practices fretboard technique in the corner. Inspired by Eddie Van Halen's virtuosity, Krouth got his chops in the Theater District, playing with the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra.

In the Wake of What Won't Change captures each member's musical personality, Dunn says, like a photograph. The title is a lyric Dunn wrote before he understood its meaning.

"'The wake of what won't change' is the struggle of reaching for things, trying to make your life bigger and better," Dunn says. Every single person in the world is reaching for something, whether it's an expanded social circle, financial situation or education. What won't change is that once these goals are accomplished, there's only something else to reach for."