The Lilacs

Pure. Chicago. Powerpop. That's The Lilacs, forged in Chicago in Summer 1990 by former Green bassist Ken Kurson and David Levinsky, both of whom play guitar and sang lead vocals. They recruited John Packel on drums and Tom Whalen on bass. They were named "The Lilacs" by Material Issue frontman Jim Ellison, who produced the group’s first record: The Lilacs Love You.

John Packel left the fold after that release and was replaced by Arthur Kim. The next record, The Lilacs Hate You, contained Kurson‘s syruppy opus “Baby Tells Me,” as well as a Levinsky-penned rager called “The Knife.”

The group went into Idful Music to record their first full-length CD, The Lilacs Rise Above the Filth. Produced by Brad Wood, who would soon become well known for recording fellow Chicagoan Liz Phair, the CD was met with wide praise and much college radio play. The single Penelope followed in 1992, released by Dead Dog Records (a play on the fake record label from the television show Wiseguy), featuring “Have I Told You,” co-written by Kurson and Lexington's poet laureate Paul K, and Levinsky‘s “Pointless.”

After much gigging around the States and Canada, the group went on hiatus from 1993-2017. A triumphant return show at Metro re-lit the spark. Richard Lloyd from Television produced "The Lilacs Endure," released by Pravda in August 2019 and it quickly became The Lilacs best-selling release, with "I Saw Her First" in rotation on legendary DJ Rodney Bingenheimer's show on SiriusXM.