ALO aka Animal Liberation Orchestra

Frames

Brushfire Records

ALO is a California rock n’ roll institution, going on over thirty years. California natives Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, Steve Adams, and Zach Gill, met in junior high in the 1980’s,  they stayed together thrroughout their years at UC Santa Barbara in the 90s and returned home to the San Francisco Bay Area in the ’00s, and have cultivated a devoted following over the course of decades, keeping the band in high demand at venues and festivals worldwide. Ezra Lipp has held the drum seat for the last seven years with “Frames” being his second full length album with the band. All four members of the quartet spent time outside of ALO playing with luminaries such as Jack Johnson, Nucki Bluhm, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. But it is within the framework of the egalitarian ALO that these four musicians really shine. Individually, each band member writes and sings, and together they create an eclectic blend of heartfelt song and expansive improvisations. ALO is more than just a band, it’s the comfort of lifelong friendship, and the discovery of late-night road trips, and treasures hidden in car seats and green rooms. After completing an Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, they  released their independently produced album debut “Fly Between Falls” in 2005. Five  more albums followed before “Silver Saturdays”, also on Brushfire, was released in  2023. “Fly Between Falls” was re-issued in 2024. “Frames” is the latest from this  compelling quartet.

Four of the albums ten tracks were written by Gill, while Adams, Lebowitz, and Lipp contribute two each. Gill has written both the opener “Black Canvas” and the closer. On “Black Canvas” we hear him sing, “Story-telling animals, truth told in lies, afflictions from our fictions, as our metaphors collide, well…There are no containers, big enough  to hold, all the things I feel about you, way down in my soul, so…you be the starlight and I’ll be your ship, and we can go anywhere we want, our story’s not written yet, way out past the breakers I feel the shift, and we can be anything we want, it’s a blank  canvas”.

“Separated, Come Together” was written by Adams, with the lyric “I feel dizzy, I can’t sleep, I got a crush on everybody I meet, head over heals, swept off my feet, I fall in  love, my heart beats, my heart beats, I take a breather, I catch the bus, now I’m  cruising ‘cross the city kicking up dust, I watch the world watching us, I take it easy, I take it easy, no fuss, separated, come together, I hit the harbor, I take a toke, let’s do the disco, boogie-woogie, come on let’s go, so many stars up in the sky, I turn ’em on, turn ’em off, hello goodbye, separated, come together, separated, come together separated then we…come together”.

“Space Between Frames” was written by Lebowitz, “Rolling the dice, is it illusion, cast your line for a bite, lost in time and all this confusion, there’s always a chance to make it feel right. Won’t you come on out, and step into the real thing, in the space between frames, that’s where we’ll figure it out, ’cause it all looks the same, through a filter of doubt”. On “Hey Hello (Tale Of The Twist & Shout)”, Gill chants “All the people in ebb  n’ flow, all the people into lettin’ go, hello, hello to you, all the people in the front row, all the people in the splash zone, hello, hello to you. This is the tale of the twist and  shout, when we open up the doors and we all hang out, a little to the left, a little to the right, and we’ll all be lifting off into space tonight”.

“Rescue Our Demons” written by the drummer Lipp, “High-heeled boots on a peckish frame, delivering the wind, I was late when I picked you up, should have drove back  home again. Red tail lights in a flickering, trance-like rhythmic bend, you glided with  an edge, proving you were magic. And we were sly, and we were perspiring electrolytes, sending us out of our reason, no doubt we were wild, though never ascribing, the restraint needed to rescue our demons”. On “In The End” from Gill, as  he crys “Here comes that feeling again, a dreamer stealing ahead, here comes that feeling again. Once upon an outlaw, a wild man on his last straw, holding back yet poking ’round his fate, vampire songs of dusty roads, secret words, forgotten tomes, a melancholic ache, in the end, here comes that feeling again, a dreamer stealing ahead, here comes that feeling again”.

Written by Lebowitz,”Rivers of wonder, on the shortest day, you and I glowing like  the embers. Far beneath our memories, the ice beneath the clay, our hearts can  melt, all we can’t remember. And I walk with you, through a forest known by few, we don’t need no fire, when our hearts collide, you and I make, the warmth of the night”. On “You May Not Get It All”, written by Lipp, “Not quite rooted, feeling low I could have slept away the day, my skies polluted, grinding slow, my confidence starting to fray. She came in nodding softly, feeling me out, she knew I hadn’t gotten much rest, she said- ‘Honey, why not have another coffee and take off  some stress’, and still I’d like to suggest that…You may not get it all but that’s alright, you’ve been trying to drink the ocean with a plastic straw, our paths may still connect the dots despite, you blowing like a brass band in a Mardi Gras”.

“Simple Sentimental Dream”, “New love, old love, in between exciting, new hearts, old hearts, making up the timing. Reeling, feeling, waiting for the landing, bouncing in the energy, come down curiosity, talk to me, tell me what you need, simple sentimental dream, fill me in , I’ll give you everything.” On the closer “Friends,” Gill croons “Thelma to Louise, Starsky to Hutch, if you blow out your knees, I’ll be your crutch, you’re Shirley to Laverne, R2 to 3PO, life is so much better, with a sister or a bro. Someone who’s got your back,someone who digs your weird, someone who will let you know, when you’ve got yogurt on your beard, laughing at what’s funny, the good times come again, ’cause you and me buddy, you know that we’re friends, laughing with my friends, nothing better than friends, we might be laughing at nothing, it don’t matter ’cause life is so much better with you as my friend”.

“Frames” feels both old and new, fresh yet classic. It’s a powerful statement and step forward for ALO. It is a beautiful sounding record, produced by ALO and David Simon-Baker. Recorded in California, the depth and character balance the emotion, musicality, and touches of clever humor. It holds dreams in it’s folds, and possibilities in its frames. In a world obsessed with selfies and the claims of overindulgent individuals, it’s a joy to listen to this band of lifelong friends as they meld their personalities into one cohesive and beautiful sound. A voice that is uniquely ALO.

Richard Ludmerer
Contributing Editor/Making A Scene

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