Artist: LA LOM
Album: The Los Angeles League of Musicians
Reviewer: Thomas Metzger
When LA natives Zac Sokolow (guitar), Jake Faulkner (bass) and Nicholas Baker (drums/percussion) first got together in 2019, they were tasked to provide background music for five nights at the famous Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. However, they soon found that their talents deserved more than to be a backdrop.
LA LOM (the Los Angeles League of Musicians) come from a rich tapestry of family history and culture: Sokolow’s background performing in his father’s Argentinian bluegrass band, Baker’s mother embracing Latin and Mexican radio and Faulkner learning on his father’s guitar while being raised in Venice, Italy. These roots all seep their way into their self-titled debut album. Starting off with “Angels Point,” it includes reverb-drenched, spaghetti-western guitar that you’d find in a Morricone movie set to a groovy cumbia beat that will bring you back to those hot summer days.
The track “Ghosts of Gardena” includes beautiful string interludes, which then trade bars with the romantic lead guitar from Sokolow. “Figueroa” has almost a sense of ghoulishness, yet is still uptempo enough to keep your feet dancing. Either track could easily fit in the intro of a Tarantino movie.
The production of this album is also very vintage sounding. Lots of surfy-style guitars doused in reverb and tremolo, like on the song “Lucia,” mesh well with the light piano and strings. The lofi sound of the record gives it a warm feeling, which only complements the romanticized nostalgia, as well as providing a fiery contrast for the performances throughout the duration of the album.
“‘72 Monte Carlo” picks up the pace with its pounding and tribal drums, paired with a slick lead synth that might just get stuck in your head if you have the song on repeat.
The track “Moonlight Over Montebello,” with its slow, swinging beat and groove under backlit strings and slide guitar, is a track that is just aching for a dance partner.
Although they may have gotten their start providing background ambiance, this album is anything but. While largely instrumental, it still deserves your attention, as the performances are fiery and soulful. While summer might be over (for now), the debut full-length from LA LOM is the perfect album for when you’re nostalgic for old summer days, or to feel the warm sunshine when it is the dead of winter. It’ll be back before you know it.
Favorite Tracks: “Lorena,” “‘72 Monte Carlo,” “Moonlight Over Montebello”
For fans of: Hermanos Gutierrez, cumbia, Latin jazz, BadBadNotGood, Morricone and/or Tarantino movies