Way back in October — in the before times, the long, long ago — I reviewed a three-song self-titled EP from Los Angeles trio Lords of Beacon House as part of a batch of radio adds. Well, as it turns out, that wasn’t so much the three-piece’s first EP as a teaser for their eight-song full-length debut, which is coming soon through Hom Hom Hom. Whoops. Whatever you want to classify those tracks as, “Distant Thunder,” “Seven Days” and “Cool Water Blues” made a remarkable opening argument in favor of Lords of Beacon House, steeped in heavy-’70s-via-’10s West Coast boogie and naturalist roll, their groove rich in tone and unpretentious in swing but still ready to be sold over the counter as a mustache-growing vitamin supplement.

Good news followed soon behind when Psycho California announced that Lords of Beacon House — the lineup of Amir Ouaddi, Peter King and Michael Lopez — would take part in its illustrious lineup this May 15-17 along with Earth, Om, Sleep, Pentagram and quite literally dozens of others, and that the band would have their full self-titled (as in, not just three tracks) out on Hom Hom Hom before they took the stage at The Observatory in Santa Ana. A worthy goal. In the meantime, the trio have a new video for “Distant Thunder” directed by Gregory Ontiveros and I’m happy today to be able to host the premiere.

If it’s your first encounter with Lords of Beacon House, some of their ’70s stylization might at first seem familiar, but if you listen to the track there’s actually little about it to call retro. The sound is clear and modern — a bluesy foundational bassline leading the way for the chug-riffing guitar and drums to follow — and in its hook and heft, the song has more in common with the new breed of skater heavy than the proto-metal that many will no doubt cast as its major influence, but so it goes. Whatever you want to call it, the track is catchy as all hell, and whether you’re listening just to this video, or to the three songs thinking they’re a standalone release when they’re definitely not that at all or just making your way through in anticipation of the album’s arrival, I think you’ll find the first impression satisfying.

Lords of Beacon House have a handful of California shows booked this month. Dates follow the video below. Enjoy:

Lords of Beacon House, “Distant Thunder” official video

Lords of Beacon House upcoming shows:

02.14 4th St. Vine, Long Beach, CA
02.18 Los Globos, Los Angeles, CA
02.20 Ham & Eggs, Los Angeles, CA
02.21 The District, Redlands, CA
02.24 The Blue Lagoon, Santa Cruz, CA
02.25 El Rio, San Francisco, CA
02.27 TBA, Santa Cruz, CA
02.28 Stork Club, Oakland, CA

Lords of Beacon House on Thee Facebooks

Lords of Beacon House on Bandcamp

Lords of Beacon House website

Hom Hom Hom

Tags: California, Hom Hom Hom, Lords of Beacon House, Lords of Beacon House Self-titled, Los Angeles, self-titled

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.