Look Out Houston

Look Out Houston takes their band name from a lyric in the song “Look Out Cleveland” by The Band. That’s apt because the Philadelphia indie rockers follow a similar philosophy as the influential group - think four separate, distinctive songwriters, group harmonies, collaborative songwriting. Add a slightly higher decibel level and a healthy dose of 90’s indie rock, and you’ve got Look Out Houston.

The group’s debut EP, The American Standards, follows those aesthetics, featuring four songs written and sung by three different band members. Self-recorded in various Philadelphia homes, attics and bathrooms, the 12-minute release runs the gamut from the Flannery O’Connor-inspired “Southern Gothic,” with its caterwauling backwards guitar, dodging wordplay and thundering slide guitar breakdown to the sprightly 90-second “Boring Me,” which bounces along on a wash of reverb guitar. Lead single “Band” compiles trumpet, gang vocals and a telephone microphone for a tour-de-force that rides precariously on the not-quite-reassuring chorus of “You’re not alone.”

Though each member of the band is a veteran of the Philadelphia and Delaware/Wilmington music scene, the group looks to pay its due diligence, building a fan base by continually sculpting its rambunctious live show and constantly cultivating new material (which, with four songwriters, isn’t hard).