Album Notes

'learning how to crawl' is an accident. the songs were all recorded very quickly and spontaneously, oftentimes minutes after they were written with absolutely no intention of release. the majority of what is heard on it is the first time tyler ritter (guitar and vocals) sat down to play and sing the song. some songs were written and all of the parts were recorded in under the span of an hour. a scant few tyler doesn't remember how he played some of the parts that he ended up with. there are mistakes all over the place on it- but everything that was left in was left in for a reason. it's built around purely acoustic songs- the reasons to release it came later as shalloboi is primarily a band with songs built around massive psychedelic, cataclysmically loud and droning guitars, chant-like vocals and minimal percussion and loops.

‘Learning How To Crawl’ is both the title and the first track on the latest slice of lo-fi psychedelia from Shalloboi, whose last release ‘Petals’ still enjoys an airing around this neck of the woods, from time to time. After the creepy psych of the opener, ‘Surprise, Surprise’, is a slow and exquisite folk/psych tune with some understated cello lifting the song, giving it a melancholy air. Third track, ‘Flowers For Kara’, is another slowburner, almost as much a drone as a song, crawling into your spine and settling into your brain and driving your dreams. This same approach is also favoured on ‘Kansas City Cursed’ the 34 minute final track, a sprawling psych folk ghost story, maybe. Throughout the track, gradual change in tone and form are introduced with consummate timing, resulting in a beautiful and haunting piece of music.- simone lewis- terrascope fanzine