Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Morrissey, Chris Isaak – Mix them all together and you get an idea of what Chicago-based band, Brigitte Calls Me Baby’s frontman, Wes Leavins, sounds like when he sings. His voice, to borrow from the words of Mike Myers’ SNL character, Linda Richman, is like butter.

I was introduced to the band via YouTube one evening after my sister suggested their sound is something I might enjoy, as I’ve been a fan of Elvis Presley since I was in elementary school and I’m a huge fan of 80s new wave, especially bands like The Smiths and Tears for Fears. The band’s sound encapsulates everything I love about Presley and the 80s alternative genre, as it’s a perfect mix of 80’s new wave and 50’s rock. Finally, a modern band that can actually write lyrics, play instruments, and that has a lead singer who can actually SING! 

The first track I listened to happened to be “Too Easy”, the sixth track on the band’s premier album, The Future is the Way Out (released on August 2, 2024). By the end of the first verse of the song, I was hooked. The music, the lyrics, that voice! The rest of the LP did not disappoint; Every other track on it is just as great as the first one I heard. Every. Single. One. I seriously can’t remember the last time I could say that about an album. I’m officially a super fan.

I recently preordered BCMB’s newest album, Irreversible, which will be released in full on March 13, 2026. The three tracks that are currently available off of that album (“Slumber Party”, “I Danced with Another Love in My Dream” and “I Can Take the Sun Out of the Sky”) totally rock as well. What I love about many of the lyrics on both albums is that they’re heavy with somewhat melancholy meaning, even though the music is mostly upbeat (which is very much reminiscent of music and lyrics by The Smiths/Morrissey). Since that first listen, I have been playing Brigitte Calls Me Baby on repeat. The only reason my husband and children haven’t complained yet is because they enjoy the music as well (How could they not?).  

Of course, after falling in love with their music, I wanted to know a little bit more about the band. I learned that Brigitte Calls Me Baby was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 2022 and is made up of lead singer Wes Leavins, guitarists Jack Fluegel and Trevor Lynch, bassist Devin Wessels, and drummer Jeremy Benshish. The band’s name was inspired by Leavins’ teenaged pen-pal correspondence with French actress, Brigitte Bardot (he wrote to her as part of an assignment in his high school English class). 

A Texas native, Wes Leavins (born Jacob Rowley) was chosen as a teen to play Elvis Presley in the Tony Award winning Broadway theater production of Million Dollar Quartet. Leavins was so good that film director, Baz Luhrmann, reached out to him for help in re-creating some of Elvis’ songs while he was working on his 2022 film, Elvis (I’m kind of surprised he wasn’t chosen to play the lead role, no disrespect to Austin Butler). If you’re an Elvis fan, be sure to listen to “Eddie My Love” (track 3) and “Life Can Always Be Fine” (track 11) on The Future is Our Only Way Out. Both very “Elvis-y” tracks are beautifully haunting. 

In addition to having the voice of an angel, Leavins also happens to be breathtakingly handsome. Not only does he sound like Elvis, but he also looks very much like him (with a bit of a young James Spader mixed in for good measure…Swoon!) and he dresses in manly, tailored clothing, which is so refreshing. Watching and listening to them all play, the members of Brigitte Calls Me Baby seem like they come from another time – Another reason to love this band.

It’s strange (and wonderful!) that a new band is bringing me back to my youth, and is making me feel like a school girl all over again. When I read the comments about the band online, it’s clear I’m not alone in feeling this way. Luckily, I was able to score tickets (for under $30!) to see the band live in a few months. I’ll be sure to update this post after the show.

Over the years, I’ve seen many film clips of teenage girls losing their minds over artists like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and The Beatles. While I love many genres of music, and truly love the music I grew up listening to, no band ever made me scream like those girls, but I get why they did. While I plan on maintaining my composure during the show (a woman in her 50s cannot lose it over a band at a concert and not look completely insane) I think it’s fair to say that the teenage girl inside me will be screaming wildly when Brigitte Calls Me Baby takes the stage for all of the same reasons girls have lost their heads over rock stars in the past. I can’t wait to see them play!