Helicopter Leaves
Chicago, Illinois, United States
About
Anthony Vaccaro carries a sliver of a memory with him wherever he goes: Twirling in front of his grandparents’ house in Chicago, watching as the trees dropped helicopter leaves onto the pavement — catching magic in his hands in the autumn sunshine. “It reminds me of being a kid,” he says, “and that's the vibe of my project, <a href="spotify:artist:6oUHHKAgzd0vyPzuctdanm" data-name="Helicopter Leaves">Helicopter Leaves</a> — childhood, memories, simple times.” Vaccaro — who also plays guitar in Chicago rock band <a href="spotify:artist:2vnB6tuQMaQpORiRdvXF9H" data-name="Beach Bunny">Beach Bunny</a> — is a true child of his home city. That scrappy essence, that workaday attitude, lends his work a satisfying edge. Rough and aching, Vaccaro’s Helicopter Leaves project evokes basement jam sessions, high school summer daydreams, and something ineffable, sweet and sad and strange. Vaccaro dropped his debut LP, Get Stuck In, which he made on his lonesome in his grandparents’ basement (a.k.a. Sam Franco Accordion Studios), in 2023. “It’s an English phrase that basically means: Start working,” he says of the title. “That’s how I felt about the record. I felt like I spent so many years and so much time dilly-dallying with creating and making my own music. One day I just sort of hit the switch.” The result is a dizzying collection of 13 tracks that thrum with nostalgia — and glorious weirdness. “I guess, in a way, it was a healing record where a lot of the lyrical content talks about growing up and finding your footing as an adult,” he adds. -Brenna Ehrlich Enos
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