Photo courtesy of the band.
To be a cohesive musical group, it’s not enough to simply play well together, you have to know and trust each other. Friendship has to be the foundation. That ethos defines Steven Leftovers, a Dallas-area indie rock outfit that has spent nearly a decade writing and recording music together. On their upcoming self-titled studio album the band channels its members’ individual sensibilities into a fully collaborative work, reflecting the wide-ranging styles that have shaped their sound over the years.
Lead single “Saccades” pushes through a haze of riotous guitars and reverberant rhythms, exploring the fragile reliability of human perception. “Saccades are eye movements that quickly position an object in the center of your visual field, and you can experience them in excess if your balance is impaired,” explains singer-songwriter Evan Stack. “The song comes from my background as a graduate student in hearing sciences studying the balance system…understanding that we are all susceptible to fundamental changes in our anatomical and physiological systems, no matter how powerful we perceive ourselves to be.”
Stack serves as the band’s primary composer, joined by Bryce Cantrell (bass), Laura Cecelia (pedal steel), Matthew Devil (drums), and Jagger McCollum (guitar). Longtime collaborator Cantrell, who also records as reynoldsflow, contributed to “Suburban Courts,” the album’s sixth track. “We all like to play basketball and felt like a song to commemorate that experience was important,” says Stack. The title references a suburban court near Mohawk Elementary in the band’s corner of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
A sense of homegrown continuity runs throughout Steven Leftovers’ music and identity. The group has maintained the same core lineup for most of its existence, with McCollum joining as a recent addition. “We get along as friends, and the music is a product of that connection,” says Stack. “It began with Laura and me, and has grown into something that feels like a perfect synthesis of all our efforts.”
If you’ve been following Thoughts Words Action for a while, or if you’ve spent a…
If there is one thing that twenty-five years of navigating the underground music scene has…
When you think about the contemporary singer-songwriter music scene, there are many artists who often…
Org Music continues its comprehensive Descendents reissue series with Enjoy!, the third installment in the campaign celebrating the band’s foundational…
Photo by Rae Mystic The ska/punk legends The Suicide Machines from Detroit, Michigan, are back…
Photo by Alberto Scattolin The Dead Krazukies return with new single, a powerful blend of…