Albums Matter

Dear friends,

We’ve played more than six hundred shows across seventy-five venues in four countries, over eleven years. Those numbers still seem weirdly big. Thank you for showing up! Each one of those shows, every soundcheck, off-night sing-through, and crowd that got it, was shaped by records we loved before we ever stepped on a stage. Bowie, Cash, the Neverending Story soundtrack.

John

Prince 1999. Prince was a pure genius, and the people who loved him from the moment they heard him were right, good and smart.
Led Zeppelin IV. Double Duh. This was a sledge hammer of talent.
Amadeus movie soundtrack. Surprising, tasteful and open-minded. Mozart wrote 600 pieces, died at age 35, and still outsells most artists. He died a poor man in Vienna in 1791.
The Style Council, My Ever Changing Moods. Paul Weller was part of the second wave of Punk Rock, and his art was in motion, especially as he wrote this record. He never rested on his successes, which makes him a badass.
The English Beat, Special Beat Service. This was political, smart, danceable classic ska record. They broke up the same year the album came out. In England, the band was known as ‘The Beat’.

John’s favorite records from his youth were a mix of orchestral ambition, raw funk and unapologetic folk/jazz/punk. They were also a departure from what was popular. John has always had a keen sense of style.

Beau

Cat Stevens’ Greatest Hits. Beau associates his favorite music with people. This one is tied to Ashley, his sister. Cat’s poetry spilled into quiet songs that break hearts.
New Order Substance. This was a new wave standard, introduced by his brother Van. The band was brilliant and flawed, and it stylishly demonstrated what three instruments could do.
Led Zeppelin II. This was Beau’s favorite Zep Album, and daily listening in high school.
Little Feat Waiting for Columbus. This is a live album meant to listen to from front to back. Join the Band, Dixie Chicken, and Feats Don’t Fail Me Now were each an invitation to be a part of the fun.
Pearl Jam Ten. This was the tape his best friend Josh and I would play over and over in the car. The first time they heard it, they couldn’t believe their ears.

Beau’s favorite records from his youth have as much to do with who he listened with as the music itself. Watching the inspiration of others is how Beau learned to love new music and to write.

Zach

Tom Petty Wildflowers. From the opening chords , this is an album that changed his life. It was Zach’s inspiration to pick up the guitar.
Van Halen 1. Duh, if you love guitar. The record exuded young men’s poetry of lust, new Motown-style harmonies and Eddie’s face melting riffs.
Ozzy Osbourne Diary of a Madman. A complete record with truly brilliant guitar work. It is sad to listen and imagine what else would have come from Randy Rhoads had he not passed away. Some souls are too beautiful for this world.
Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy. The choice of Zep’s fifth record is especially cool as each of the band has a different Zep record among our favorites. To quote Bonzo, “We’ve done four already and now we’re steady.”
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here. This record’s brilliant poetry and distinct style give it ample elbow room. His favorite lyric of all time: “We’re just two lost souls swimming in a fishbowl, year after year.”

Zach’s favorite albums from his childhood are littered with brilliance on the guitar. Jimmy Page, Tom Petty, Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen and David Gilmour are titans of Rock and Roll.

We each picked five favorite childhood albums, and on our lists, we had profound poetry, and we all had Zeppelin. It’s not our goal to explain ourselves, but maybe Clover’s Revenge makes a bit more sense now?

As a band, we’ve made three albums. We sequenced them like people who grew up with albums, tapes and CDs, because we did. We thought in arcs and key changes and the moments that listeners needed a breath. Somewhere between our first record and today, the world has learned to listen in a different way.

This is not a tragedy; it’s a format change. Our grandparents had vinyl we could hold, and our parents had tapes in the car. We had CDs we could skip through, burn, and carry in our pockets. Now there’s Spotify playlists. Kids discover music one song at a time, and they share it with friends. Tunes get remixed into videos, and they end up living in feeds instead of on shelves. Every generation listens the way they have to. Every generation is doing it right in the context of their moment.

Albums were made for people who wanted to sit down and listen. Singles are built for people who listen while they’re walking, scrolling, working, or making something of their own. That’s not bad – It’s just different. And the thing about doing something different is, if you’re not built for it, you either adapt or you don’t get noticed.

So, we’re adapting. We’re writing a single.

Albums taught us how to think like a band. They taught us how to sequence a story. They taught us that format was destiny—and that when destiny changes, you either follow it or you disappear.

What’s cool about eleven years and four countries and all those stages is that we learned to play for the room in front of us, not for the album we were supposed to be selling. A single can do that. It lives in the moment and travels light. So we’re making one.

Albums matter. They certainly shaped us. But, the next generation is learning to love fully, reverently music on their own terms – kind of like the way we learned to love albums. Our job is to continue making something worth listening to, however the next generation chooses to hear it.

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