Lomita's nine-song debut plays out like a deep-fried dark night of the soul. The Austin quintet's gritty concoction of tripped-out twang, whiskey-bent trash rock, and Idiot-era Iggy Pop emerges almost fully fanged. The Pavement-flavored "I Got a Feeling" starts Stress Echo out on a jagged pop precipice that could go either way before the dilated warble of "Venom Flash" heralds the crossover into a David Lynch-directed universe of confounding high loneliness.
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Although bands inevitably will continue to try, it seems nearly impossible to really blend rock and country sounds without being an imposter but, Austin's Lomita have not only reconciled those two genres but have expanded their sound to incorporate sub-genres thereof, creating a wholly unique sound worthy of every non-partisan music fan's palette.

Stress Echo, the band's debut release, showcases their diverse tastes as the record flows from the catchy roadhouse pop anthems of "I Got A Feeling" and "History of Leaving" to the 100 mile speed-train rock of "Green Eyes" to the Billy Idol-esque dance floor disaster freak-out of "Mr. Execution," finally winding down into the depraved depths of "Panic" which starts off with creepy, meloncholly wails and dead ends into a cacophonous explosion of buildups and teardowns that will make you feel like you're in a ragtop Cadillac screaming through the desert with a loaded gun sitting on the front seat next to your bottle of Jameson.

The band consists of five expert musicians who have a well of ideas, a massive library of influences, and know what to do with their instruments and recording equipment. As icing on the cake, Lomita can pull of their layered compositions live as well as they have on their record so catch a show in the near future and grab a copy of Stress Echo which is sure to wear your CD player out.
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Lomita's debut release, Stress Echo, is without a doubt one of the most solid releases to come out of Austin in recent memory. The band refuses to get stuck in genre specifications and instead opts to throw their wide range of influences into the mix with reckless abandon. Though the album's flow is a little disjointed at first listen, the entirety is a cohesive whole representative of a band made up of true music lovers, incorporating the soulful country sounds of Big Star's "Third/Sisters Lovers" record, the layered shoegaze ambiance of Mogwai, the dance rock freakout of Billy Idol, the straight up vintage motorcyle rock of Davie Allen and The Arrows, and topped off with shimmers of Krautrock legends Neu!. Incredible musical talent, solid songwriting, and honest lyrics make this record worth every note.
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