Bolinas has today premiered his new video for the track titled ‘U.L.B.’. from his album ‘Heavy Easy Listening’ releasing via Sub Rosa Curation.
With an original sound and a monster beat utilizing two drummers (Joey Anderson of Hunny and Ian Dobyns of Dreamgirl) the song is an open space and a wide canvas of sonic bliss with a laid back tone and beautiful soundscape. Almost appreciating the mastering as much as the music, I find myself getting lost in the song. Inspired by the guitars cascading into each other with the bass doubling the melody and a vocal track as pristine as it is weathered. Beautiful.
Featured image by Amanda Laferriere.
About U.L.B.
The track title, “U.L.B”, is an acronym for “Unnecessary Last Beer”, a term Bolinas lead vocalist and songwriter Chris Thomas picked up and used often while bartending in Los Angeles. The song was written after a night where he fell victim to the “U.L.B.” phenomenon himself, reflecting on his tendency towards self destructive behaviors and distant romantic relationships where “It seemed safer to not put too much into a relationship when I could just wind up getting hurt.” Inspired by a conversation he had in the bar that night with a Icelandic couple who taught him the expression “running off your horns” (essentially the nordic version of “sowing your wild oats”) Chris realized that maybe it was time for him to move on on from this self-destructive phase and settle down a little – both in his romantic life and in his consumption of Unnecessary Last Beers.
The release of “U.L.B” is accompanied by a music video for the song that plays with tropes from found footage horror movies, with band members Chris and Ian out on a nature hike that quickly goes wrong, as their selfie videos are constantly intercut with brief flashes of grainy VHS footage and a mysterious hooded figure, growing more ominous as day turns to night.
“U.L.B.” is one of the songs on Heavy Easy Listening that utilizes two different drummers on the same track (Joey Anderson of Hunny and Ian Dobyns of Dreamgirl), giving the track a strong sense of dynamics as the more dreamy feel of the verses explodes into the track’s chorus, the space seeming to open up as Chris’s voice shifts into a more passionate delivery. Describing why he chose the song as a single, Chris says that “U.L.B” “best represents the place I’m in now. Wanting to be a better partner, better friend, and really be worthy of someone’s trust and commitment. It’s also a reminder to put your best foot forward and not just settle for second best for fear of being hurt.”
About Bolinas
Bolinas is the bedroom pop turned heavy project of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Chris Thomas. In 2012, in search of greener pastures on the US Western Coast, the Kansas City-native packed the entirety of his belongings into his Volkswagen and departed for Seattle, WA. While making his way across the northern states, his vehicle catastrophically burst into flames – the same Volkswagen seen burning on the side of the road in the Heavy Easy Listening album artwork. Thomas, escaping with only a camera, documented an raging inferno fueled by his possessions, before being stranded in the Badlands of South Dakota. Nevertheless, he continued on to the Pacific NW with a shaken, but persisting resolve.
Since then, Thomas had worked as both a tour manager and guitar tech for bands like Youth Lagoon, Hunny, and currently Wallows. He spent several years in Los Angeles bartending and using those side gigs as a way to both replace his lost gear and establish a foothold in the music industry – but when covid struck in 2020, Thomas headed back home to Kansas City, where he began tracking the songs that became Heavy Easy Listening with his friends and former bandmates from the area. “I’ve been a Guitar Tech, Carpenter, Cabinet maker, Bartender, Retail sales associate, liquor store clerk… Blue collar to the core. All of us.”, Chris says, “I think that spirit is embedded in Bolinas. I’ve spent a lot of years handing people guitars to go out and live my dream while I’m off stage in the shadows. We play music because we love it and these people, after all we’ve been through, are my family.”
Describing the mix of sonic influences of Bolinas and his background in Kansas city, Chris writes: “We were so close to Lawrence KS & Omaha, so their influence on me was massive. 90’s alt rock of Shiner, post rock/space rock of The Appleseed Cast & HUM, quintessential emo of The Get Up Kids, Raw post punk of Cursive, & psych folk of Bright Eyes; really taught me about music and helped me craft a style. While I was sort of a fan of the screamo of the early 2000’s, it never really influenced my music in a big way. All of my former bands were usually the “softest” on the bill and relied on post rock crecendos rather that hardcore breakdowns. I never really felt like I had a place in the music scene in those years.”
That unique blend of influences reflects itself in the sound of Heavy Easy Listening, with guitar tones that crash with the heaviness and distortion of bands like Nothing, DIIV, and Greet Death, while undergirding those textures with dynamic rhythms and emo-pop melodies that pull influence from artists like Jimmy Eat World, Swirlies, and Cursive. For a while Chris felt like his sound was “not quite “emo”, too wordy for shoegaze, too heavy to be pop”, but the new album shows him settling into a sweet spot that should appeal to fans of heavier shoegaze as much as it appeals to fans of lighter indie rock and dream pop.
The lineup of musicians on Heavy Easy Listening includes a number of musicians from the Kansas City area, including Ian Dobyns of Dreamgirl (drums, additional guitars / vox), Joey Anderson of Hunny (drums), Mark Penechar (Guitars, vox) Shaun Penchar (bass), and Chris Thomas on lead vocals, guitar, and synths.
Discussing the themes of the record, Chris writes: “Obviously writing about heartbreak isn’t a groundbreaking concept, but I wrote most of this record while in various stages of the grieving process from heartbreak, monetary struggles, to the recovery from alcoholism and drug abuse. The hurt you feel, the denial, the acceptance or dismissal of failures, the anger toward yourself & others, the indifference you can sometimes have towards new romantic interests because you’re not ready to move on, jealousy, loneliness, and searing pain of having to watch someone you love so desperately move on from you.”
It has been a long and winding road from that horrible setback in 2012 to finally releasing his first full album as Bolinas, with plenty more personal struggles along the way, but that burning car on the album cover has become a symbol of strength and resilience for Chris over time. “It may be a grainy photo, but I think it’s a perfect metaphor for how I’ve felt about my choices in life sometimes” Chris says, “It really marked the start of this adventure that’s been the decade from 25th to my 35th year on this earth, and the constant struggle to be better… I hope that people can listen to these musical anecdotes of how much of a fuck up I can be, uneasy to be around, and lonely I have been; and realize that you can always come back from it. A monument to accepting & forgiving yourself and others for being human.”
LINKS:
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