Ears Wide Open: Lo Tom

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Lo Tom
Lo Tom

Excuse the members of Lo Tom for being comically nonchalant about their new project. Rather trumpeting their forthcoming album as the next big thing, the introduction to the indie quartet quotes the band as saying, “We just wanted to make music together and have fun.” And, “Nobody is in charge. … The album cover is pink.” And, “These songs were painstakingly honed over the course of … um … two weekends. Then we sat on them for a while.”

For the record, Lo Tom are David Bazan (Pedro the Lion), Trey Many (Velour 100, Starflyer 59), TW Walsh (Pedro the Lion, The Soft Drugs), and Jason Martin (Starflyer 59). They have a combined 125 years of experience playing in various bands. Over the past 2 1/2 decades, they have been principals on more than 30 (by our count) full-length albums. Bazan’s latest solo album “Care” came out this spring; Walsh’s fifth solo album** “Terrible Freedom” came out earlier this year; Martin released the 14th Starflyer album, “Slow,” last summer. They do other things too: Martin runs his family’s trucking company; Many works for a booking agency; Walsh is a recording engineer. You get the idea.

The songs on Lo Tom’s self-titled album, being released July 14 on Barsuk, date to 2014, but the sound is a fusion of their musical pasts. The first single “Overboard” wouldn’t be a big departure in the catalogues of Pedro the Lion, Starflyer 59 or Walsh. It feels hand-crafted yet unfussy. The guitars speak volumes but don’t ramble. And, the band says, “shows are being booked.”

** Corrected post to show Walsh’s latest release.

||| Stream: “Overboard”