LOMITA

The Austin / San Marcos-based quintet draws forth echoes of soft-spoken cowboy dirges, 100mph dust storm rock, as well as orchestral psychedelic fog atmospherics. ?We tend to throw a wide range of influences into the mix and sometimes it throws people off that we mix country with shoegazer styles? primary vocalist Ricky Sowan said. ?We think that all of these styles can coexist to form a cohesive sound. People either get it and connect with it or get confused by it.

?? Lomita's instrumentation is as diverse as their influences; the band employs lap and pedal steels, a musician's wet-dream of guitars and a complex little city of effects pedals, several electric pianos, bass, and drums. With all these options in the capable hands of some of the finest young musicians the sounds created are beautifully thick, haunting, intense, soulful, and ecstatic all at the same time. Their recent full-length release, Stress Echo, is an album well worth really listening to. Don't just put it on as background noise; pump it through a good system and make love to it.