Stream: Scott Yoder, ‘Looking Back In Blue’

Daiana Feuer on March 2nd, 2016

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After a 12-year run, Seattle rock band The Pharmacy called it quits in 2014 amid the rubble of smashed instruments, nervous breakdowns, heavy drinking and worn-out dreams. A little time passed before the singer of the band, Scott Yoder, picked up the pieces for a fresh start. The songs that came out were melancholy, softer, uncompromising, and it made him feel better. He put out a cassette in early 2015, bought a Greyhound bus pass, and toured around the States solo, opening for Jessica Pratt, Kevin Morby, The Abigails, Jesse Sykes, Mark Lanegan and others. Then he wrote more songs and put together the most ego-less band he could muster to record. “No ego-checks, no passive aggressive vibes, limited bullshit (don’t trust anyone who says they’re completely bullshit-free),” Yoder explains. His debut full-length album, “Looking Back In Blue” comes out March 25 through Annibale Records. It reflects his newfound ethic, a sort of return to basics. “No expectations, no promises, I wrote and recorded this record in the way that made sense to the songs, not to appease the allegiances of any rock n roll subgenre.” The result is personal and unpretentious. His scratchy voice is friendly. “These are the songs I came up with,” he says. “I love singing them. They aren’t happy songs, but they make sense to me and they are my conscious attempt to tell the truth to myself.”

||| Stream: “Looking Back In Blue”