LA LOM

About LA LOM

LA LOM started as a backyard experiment in East LA, where core members Zac Sokolow and Nicholas Baker grew up playing in various projects around the city's DIY scene. They officially formed around 2018, initially as a loose collective recording in garages and bedrooms, building a sound that borrowed from Chicano soul, cumbia, surf rock, and the kind of psychedelic funk that happens when you dig through your parents' records and take it all seriously.

The group expanded into a full band with Jake Faulkner on bass, Francisco J. Gonzalez on drums, and later adding members who could handle everything from organ to percussion. The result was something that felt both deeply rooted in Southern California's musical history and completely unpredictable. Their early recordings captured a certain looseness, like they were still figuring out what the project could be, but already confident enough to commit it to tape.

Their self-titled debut came out in 2019 on Innovative Leisure, and it made sense immediately if you knew where they were coming from. Tracks like "Ven" and "Hombre Lobo" moved between Spanish and English without making a thing of it, and the instrumentation pulled from so many places that it never felt like pastiche. Just a band pulling from what they grew up hearing and making something new out of it.

The sound got tighter and more ambitious on their 2021 follow-up, which showed a band less interested in fitting into any particular revivalist lane. They added strings, leaned into arrangements that felt cinematic without being overblown, and generally acted like a group that had spent two years playing shows and learning what actually worked. Songs like "Candela" and "Manos" had this patient build to them, not in a rush to get anywhere but absolutely sure of the destination.

What makes LA LOM interesting is how little they seem to care about being easily categorized. They're not a cumbia band, not a psych band, not a soul act, even though all of those elements show up. They also resist the kind of cultural tourism that often happens when bands start mixing influences from different traditions. It helps that several members have actual roots in the communities whose music they're drawing from, and that they approach everything with the same level of respect and weirdness.

They've stayed active on the LA club circuit, playing spots like The Echo and Zebulon, and they've built the kind of following that actually shows up. No massive breakthrough moment yet, no pivot to major label life, just steady work and a discography that keeps getting more interesting. They're the kind of band that makes you wonder what they'll sound like in five years, which is a better compliment than most.

LA LOM's shows are intimate even in larger rooms. The crowd leans quiet and attentive, paying actual attention to the spacious production. Energy is contemplative rather than euphoric, with people clustering closer to the stage during quieter moments. There's a distinct lack of phone-in energy.

Known for Comedown, Losing It, Paper Thin, Ghost, Velvet

See LA LOM Live