THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Silver Saturdays — California rock band ALO‘s first full-length offering in eight years and ninth overall studio release — isn’t just another album. This is the rock ’n’ roll dream made reality. Best friends since childhood who form a band, buy a van and embark on an adventure out of the lush valleys of the Golden State that’s still flourishing a quarter of a century later. ALO — short for Animal Liberation Orchestra — show what happens when a band doesn’t break up and instead enjoys the fruition of their life long camaraderie and brotherhood. As such, the music hinges on the near-telepathic cohesion of four master collaborators at the peak of their craft individually and collectively after all of this time.
Silver Saturdays celebrates an ongoing journey that began in Saratoga in the late ’80s when Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (guitar/vocals), Zach Gill (keyboards/vocals) and Steve Adams (bass/vocals) met in grade school. It stands out as the first full-length studio release featuring drummer/vocalist Ezra Lipp — a fixture in the Northern California creative scene where he cut his teeth with the likes of Phil Lesh, Sean Hayes and countless others. Meanwhile, the title nods to the band’s recent penchant for silver attire at their Saturday shows, which became a costume theme amongst their fan base and an acknowledgment of their silver 25th anniversary.
Recorded at Sun Machine studio — nestled in the hills of northern Marin County — the album is a fully collaborative effort written by the band and co-produced alongside longtime engineer David Simon Baker. For Gill, Lebo, Adams and Lipp, the session was both a return to their roots and a new beginning — a chance to reconnect and immerse themselves in the creative process.
“There’s always a moment in the making of an ALO record when we ask ourselves, “Why make another record?” Gill reflects, “For me, the answer comes in waves over time. It has to do with the spirit of musical adventure and the rhythms of laughter. It’s about the sweet release of a Lebo guitar lead over an Ezra drum beat as Steve and I weave the bass and keys around each other. Call it a jam, call it a song, call it a feeling, but it has to do with connection. For me, it feels like coming home.”
Lebo adds, “It’s a palpable feeling when the four of us are in a room together creating music — having our individual sound waves collide as they transform and morph into one before even getting captured by the microphones. My hope for the listeners of ALO’s Silver Saturdays is that they get to experience a bit of this invigorating feeling — and better yet, that it stirs up some inspiration of their own!”
The result is 10 new original songs, recorded mostly live, that pay direct homage to the journey and the artistic process and further refine ALO’s singular and self-ascribed “jam-pop” genre — which Lebo fondly describes as “human music for humans.” The subject matter is specific and deeply personal while also universal and accessible, and the musicianship follows suit. There is no pretense, no pomp, and not a note wasted. There’s no bullshit; this is just great players delivering a masterclass in the art of serving the music.
The sounds captured on Silver Saturdays are fresh and mercurial, but they are also fun, thoughtful, dreamy and articulate. All four members lend their distinctive lead and background vocals throughout. Their concise, meticulously crafted songwriting and storytelling is interwoven with Lebo’s soaring, seemingly effortless leads as he draws impossible, ever-evolving tones from his signature acoustic-electric guitar. Gill’s tasty comping on keys and Adams’ bass groove perfection provide deep pockets sewn by a lifetime of mutual experience, and Lipp’s jam-informed rhythmic flourishes breathe new energy into the mix while also maintaining stylistic continuity with ALO’s earlier body of work.”
