Following up their work on a four-way split from this past year, San Diego group Slow Draw earlier this week dropped a two-song single, Pessimist, released as a collaboration between Paper Street Cuts, GTG Records, and Rizkan Records, that serves as their first release written and recorded as a full four-piece band.
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Singer/guitarist Todd Allen had this to say about the formation of the group and this single release:
"The idea of Slow Draw formed over the last couple of years with songs that didn’t seem to fit what Squarecrow (Todd’s other musical endeavor) was or is. The songs felt like they pulled even more from my random influences of New Wave, Neo-Rockabilly, Americana, and Alt-Country. The Punk element still felt present, but it sat firmly alongside the other influences rather than at the forefront.
The songwriting mirrored my previous musical solo effort, but rather than go at it alone, I pulled Dan in to help tidy up some songs, run through and work out all the knots. Re-recording a few old solo songs, we jumped on a split with Sad Girls Club, Lightweight, and Allweather. I think Slow Draw actually became a band once Manny and Dylan became involved.
'Pessimist' and 'Glorious' are the first songs to be released with the full lineup involved during the writing and recording process. I consider these songs to be the actual formal introduction of Slow Draw to the world. They represent what the vision of the band is and what is to come."
Honestly, I think the combination of influences Todd describes is what makes this pair of tracks so interesting, with the moody “Glorious” nicely contrasting the more energetic title track. The Pessimist release can be ordered on animated flexi disc here and the band can be located on Bandcamp here. Meanwhile, check out the premiere of the trippy animated teaser video for "Glorious" below.
