Photo by Jay Blakesberg
Today, California Rock band, ALO, announced in celebration of their 25th year together they’ll release their first full-length studio LP in eight years and ninth studio release, Silver Saturdays – which is set to release on March 3 via Brushfire Records. Alongside the announcement of the project, the band shared the lead single from the project, “Hot Damn,” with an accompanying music video.
According to a press release, Silver Saturdays “isn’t just another album” but is, in actuality, the result of the dream of rock-and-roll made into reality: childhood friends forming a band, buying a van and embarking on an adventure over the hills and valleys of California, that is still going strong a quarter century later. The project shows what happens when a band stays together and the fruits of that brotherhood and life-long camaraderie come to fruition.
On the project, Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (guitar/vocals), Zach Gill (keyboards/vocals) and Steve Adams (bass/vocals) show their growth and longstanding chemistry that began while they were in grade school. Silver Saturdays also stands out as the first release featuring drummer and vocalist Ezra Lipp (Phil Lesh, Sean Hayes). The 10-track LP was recorded mostly live at Sun Machine studio in the hills of northern Marin County, Calif., and is a collaborative effort written by the band and co-produced alongside engineer David Simon Baker – furthering and refining ALO’s self-ascribed “jam-pop” / “human music for humans.”
“There’s always a moment in the making of an ALO record when we ask ourselves, ‘Why make another record?’” Gill reflected in the press release. “For me, the answer comes in waves over time. It has to do with the spirit of musical adventure and the rhythms of laughter. It’s about the sweet release of a Lebo guitar lead over an Ezra drum beat as Steve and I weave the bass and keys around each other. Call it a jam, call it a song, call it a feeling, but it has to do with connection. For me, it feels like coming home.”
Lebo added, “It’s a palpable feeling when the four of us are in a room together creating music—having our individual sound waves collide as they transform and morph into one before even getting captured by the microphones. My hope for the listeners of ALO’s Silver Saturdays is that they get to experience a bit of this invigorating feeling—and better yet, that it stirs up some inspiration of their own!”
The lead single, “Hot Damn,” is a prime example of Lebo’s hope being fulfilled. The feel-good bop flows between fluid instrumentation, simmering guitar rips and an earworm of a hook, ideal for connecting the band with just about any crowd.
“‘Hot Damn’ is the eureka moment, the soulful epiphany, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” said Gill of the track. “As we behold our respective treasures, be they love, wisdom or an actual chest full of gold, we say to ourselves ‘Hot Damn!’”
The accompanying music video was created by animator and director Deren Ney, who is known for his work with Marcus King, Grace Potter and Tom Petty.
“The song explores the theme of digging around for the good stuff in life, so we reimagined the ALO origin story as a Goonies-style suburban adventure where the kids discover the greatest treasure of all: the power of rock and roll,” added Ney.
It’s notable that this spring, ALO will hit the road on the Tour d’Amour XVI around the western U.S. with support from Rainbow Girls on several dates and Hot Buttered Rum, ORGŌNE, Ron Artis II and The Moore Brothers. Learn more and find tickets here.
Listen to “Hot Damn” below.
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Silver Saturdays Tracklist
01. Make It Back Home
02. Oil
03. Sparrow
04. Hot Damn
05. Keep On Giving Jane
06. Growing Your Hands Back
07. Rewind
08. Rare Air
09. Divine Fall
10. Goodnight Song