America’s Velvet Glory

Description

LP comes w/Download Card & Printed Insert.

CD isFour Panel Digipack.

Singer and songwriter Lucas Fitzsimons came to his calling in anappropriately mythic way, born in a historic city not far from BuenosAires and raised in L.A.s South Bayjust outside ofInglewoodwhere he was immersed in the hip-hop hits on localradio. (Westside Connection!) The summer before he started middleschool, a close friend got an electric guitar, and Fitzsimons felt anirresistible inexplicable power. When he was 12, his parents took himback to Argentina, and on the first night, he discovered along-forgotten almost-broken classical guitar in the basement of hisancestral home: It sounds made-up, but its true, he says. I didn’tput the guitar down once that whole triptook it with meeverywhere and played and played. When I got back to L.A., I boughtmy first guitar practically as the plane was landing. This started along line of bands and a long experience of learning to perform inpublic, as Fitzsimons honed intentions and ideas and tried to figureout why that guitar seemed so important. After a trip to India in2012, he returned renewed and ready to start again, scrapping hisband to lead something new and uncompromising. This was the truestart of the Molochs.

The first album Forgetter Blues was released with Fitzsimmonsguitarist/organist and longtime bandmate Ryan Foster in early 2013on his own labelnamed after a slightly infamous intersection intheir then-home of Long Beachand was twelve songs of anxiousgarage-y proto-punk-y folk-y rock, Modern Lovers demos and VelvetUnderground arcana as fuel and foundation both. It deserved to gofarther than it did, which sadly wasnt very far. But it sharpenedFitzsimons and his songwriting, and after three pent-up years ofcreativity, he was ready to burst. So he decided to record a newalbum in the spirit of the first, and in the spirit of everything thattheMolochs made so far.

The result is Americas Velvet Glory, recorded with engineer JonnyBell at effortless (says Fitzsimons) sessions at Long Beachs JazzCatsstudio. (Also incubator for Molochs new labelmates Wall of Deathand Hanni El Khatib.) It starts with an anxious electric minor-keymelody and ends on a last lonesome unresolved organ riff, and inbetween comes beauty, doubt, loss, hate and even a moments or twoof peace. There are flashes of 60s garage rocklike the Sunset Strip66 stormer No More Cryin or the Little Black Egg-styleheartwarmer-slash-breaker The One I Lovebut like one of Fostersand Fitzsimons favorites the Jacobites, the Molochs are taking thepast apart, not trying to recreate it.