Charleston, South Carolina-based band Stop Light Observations (aka SLO) are gearing up to release a new album this year, which will be the first full length album they’ve released since 2016. They’ve since released a few singles here and there, but it’s been a long time coming for this new album, and the wait has been excruciating. But as we sit and try not to lose our cool waiting for new music, let’s take a moment to appreciate the near perfection that was their last album, TOOGOODOO.

This album was written and recorded in a town called TOOGOODOO located in South Carolina, a ways from major cities and people. They secluded themselves away from everything for a few months throughout this process to find their stride as a band, and it really shows. The musicianship on this album is incredible. They find great grooves throughout and really get jam-heavy towards the latter half of the record, especially on tracks like ‘Give to Get’, ‘Aquarius Apocalyptic’, or ‘For Elizabeth’. Also the harmonies on ‘Dead’ are impeccable. The guys have agreat chemistry that is very palpable from the start of the record to the finish.

TOOGOODOO addresses at times, heavy themes of growing up, finding oneself, and trying to make and maintain meaningful relationships. But they also know how to have a good time, with
tracks like ‘Know It All’s’ poking fun at themselves, blatantly admitting that they “no nothing at all”. They also address harder topics at times through a more comical lens, as on the track
‘Security’. This is their portrayal of trying to navigate one’s way through the corporate world in an attempt to find some semblance of happiness, only to find that maybe there’s more to the American Dream than just being financially secure. On this track, lead singer, Will Blackburn, very effortlessly goes from his crooning softer side to a more gritty and hard hitting register that
it’s impossible not to take every syllable he says to heart.

Blackburn proves to be a very enthusiastic and charismatic frontman with an incredible vocal range. He really has honed in on his craft and knows how to invoke such intense emotion into
every line. Also, we see the band play an ode to their southern roots throughout the second half of this record. There’s an addition of more acoustic fingerstyle guitar playing as well as,
Blackburn adding a bit of a twang to his voice, but they mix this in with their own style to create a very refreshing sound.

Overall, this album is a very enjoyable listen, with many different sounds coming together on his thing that there’s definitely something here for everyone to enjoy.

Try: Aquarius Apocalyptic, Security, Give to Get, Who You Are