Kevin Bronson on July 7th, 2022

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Alms is the indie-rock launched as a solo project by singer-songwriter-guitarist Roman Zangari while he attending college in Santa Cruz. Upon finishing school and returning to L.A., Tristan Walczak, Alms took shape as a full band, rleasing their debut album, “Dogpile,” in late 2019.

Their sound is indebted to shoegaze, ’90s alt-rock and emo, playing the soft-loud dynamic to the hilt, juxtaposing their mostly deadpan vocals with strident guitars and cultivating an unsparingly introspective outlook.

They grew and refined their sound on their 2021 EP, “Somehow, Always,” and returned this year with the singles “Drag Me” and “Eye 4 and Eye,” the latter released last month.

Guitarists Zangari and Walczak cut a swathe forward in both, as “Drag Me” swings emotionally from self-loathing to hopeful and “Eye 4 an Eye” seethes with bitterness at the back-and-forth nitpicking that sabotages relationships. Both tracks are scheduled to appear on a new EP the band will release later this year.

||| Stream: “Eye 4 an Eye” and “Drag Me”

||| Also: Watch the video for “Apart,” from their 2021 EP

||| Live: Alms play with Hotline TNT and Poison Ruin on Saturday night at the Vine in Long Beach. They also open for Fime (celebrating their album release) on July 20 at Resident in downtown L.A. (tickets).