Lo Tom is back at it again… still four old friends, who’ve known each other for 20+ years, playing in random bands, both together and apart:
David Bazan (Pedro the Lion, Headphones, solo work)
Trey Many (Velour 100, Starflyer 59, His Name is Alive)
Jason Martin (Starflyer 59, Bon Voyage)
TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs, solo work)
They made a self-titled debut and released it on Barsuk in 2017. It got some good coverage, including these highlights:
“Lo Tom’s debut is a serious rock ‘n’ roll record that doesn’t take itself too seriously.” -NPR
“While the “let’s just get together, press record and see what happens” schtick can be overly romanticized and often guilty of delivering diminishing returns, Lo Tom proves that in the right hands, it can produce pure musical magic.” -PASTE
“It’s pretty and powerful and worth hearing” -Stereogum
““Covered Wagon” is one of Bazan’s most surreal and spirited views of American cultural decline, while “Bad Luck Charm” reduces the complicated narrative of his masterwork Control into a single snapshot.” -Pitchfork
They played a tiny handful of shows, a few of them even sold out. They had a bunch of fun. When that was done, they all went back home.
But the ideas kept coming… they traded song snippets, got together to work out arrangements, and then converged in the spring of 2019 to finish tracking in sunny Orange County CA.
The result is bigger and darker. Lo Tom had some self-imposed rules on the first record… just two guitar tracks and minimal overdubs on all songs. They kept it simple and sparse. That all went out the window this time around. LP2 is stacked with multi-tracked guitars, ambient synths, and layered vocals.
A heavier sound, with heavier lyrics to match… all of the songs deal with debt, both financial and personal, and the crushing weight those things bring over time. Yet somehow, Lo Tom’s tongue-in-cheek approach still shines through the darkness.
Lo Tom and Barsuk amicably parted ways after the first album, so the band is putting out this record on their own, reaching out to fans to help with production and manufacturing through a Kickstarter campaign that starts today, Monday August 10th. The album will be released digitally on Sept. 4, 2020.
