Comprised of David Bazan, best known for his work in Pedro the Lion; Trey Many, a member of Velour 100 and Starfinder 59; TW Walsh, a bandmate of Bazan’s in Pedro the Lion, a member of The Soft Drugs and a well-regarded solo artist; and Jason Martin, a bandmate of Trey Many in Starfinder 59, the members of indie rock All-Star act Lo Tom features some incredibly accomplished members, with more than 125 combined years of playing, writing, recording and touring as professional musicians. And interestingly enough, the project can trace its origins to its members being long-time friends, who used to mess around and jam together, missed playing together, and decided to spend some time writing and recording together.
In fact, the quartet’s self-titled debut, which is slated for a July 14, 2017 release through Barsuk Records was written and recorded during the rare free time each of its members could spare and consisted of the four friends convening with some loose riffs and beats and seeing where things would go while lyrically speaking Bazan, who wrote most of the album’s lyrics, would make up something quickly and on the spot before eventually refining them. And as you’ll hear on “Overboard,” Lo Tom’s first single of their self-titled debut, the song possesses the looseness of four, old pros and friends jamming together and knowing where each one is going while seamlessly meshing elements of the sounds and aesthetics that have made each of them success within their own projects, complete with the soaring hooks and huge power chords of the alt rock and power pop that have clearly influenced it; but perhaps more important the song has a swooning and urgent earnestness that belies the bandmembers’ casual and off-hand manner in describing how things came together.
With the release of the new single, the band announced their first live dates together, and it includes an August 12, 2017 stop at Rough Trade. Check out the tour dates below.
TOUR DATES:
08/11 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall (tickets / info)
08/12 Brooklyn, NY – Rough Trade (tickets / info)
08/17 Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room (tickets / info)
08/18 Los Angeles, CA – Bootleg Theater (tickets / info)
08/19 Seattle, WA – Tractor Tavern (tickets / info)