Loomis...

Another sad and unfortunate tragedy of the Grass to Wind-Up Records switchover in the late 90’s was the promising Milwaukee, WI based indie-rock/emo outfit Loomis. After burning through a couple bassists in the bands earlier stages the group settled on the lineup of Mike Chubbuck (vocals/guitar), Dave Kawczynski (guitar), Chris Rosenau (bass), and Eric Marshall (drums). Although being based in WI, the band played a very similar sound to that of the Chapel Hill bands of the same era (Superchunk, Archers of Loaf, etc), but maybe with a bit less of the quirky nature of most of those. Instead they opted for some of the big melody approach of the Midwestern indie/emo bands of the time as well. While the combination didn’t really do enough to make them stand out, their lone 1996 album You’re No Tiger Meow, Meow, Meow released on Grass Records contained plenty of fine songs that should have and still could interest those that consider themselves fans of this type of thing. Solid all the way around, even if it isn’t something completely new or that hasn’t been done before. The band also released a few singles throughout their run together. Some of the odds and ends of the bands discography were collected on the 1999 2 disc compilation How Much is Too Much released on Sun Sea Sky Productions. Anyway, for those interested here are a few tracks from their fine 1996 album You’re No Tiger Meow, Meow, Meow.

Loomis – Conquistador [MP3]
Loomis – Kung Fu Girl [MP3]
Loomis – Pillow [MP3]

Like I mentioned earlier, the band was ultimately left in the dust after Grass eventually morphed into Wind-Up. Loomis was in the process of recording new songs during the time of the switch; however the band split up not long after being dropped from the label. Since then the band has reunited once back in December of 2006 with fellow reunited Milwaukee greats Compound Red and Alligator Gun. Talks of newly recorded/re-recorded songs surfaced both before and after the show, but have since been quiet for a little over a year now. Regardless, for those interested in their one and only album and are digging the tunes above by all means head on over to Amazon and snatch up one of the many used copies available for cheap. Good stuff.