Liz Cooper & The Stampede’s anticipated debut full-length album, Window Flowers, is out today on the band’s own label, Sleepyhead Records, via Thirty Tigers. Stream/purchase here. Window Flowers is already the subject of widespread critical acclaim…
“A nugget of 50-years-late-breaking psychedelia out of Nashville, ‘Hey Man’ circles through four chords and flaunts a distorted guitar hook, jazzy drumming and an elaborate but transparent throng of voices and guitars behind Liz Cooper’s straightforward come-on.”
“A gorgeously arranged and performed bouquet of psychedelia-tinged folk-rock…”
“…to draw a line from Window Flowers to any period of rock and roll, it
would be that of the Paisley Underground and bands like The Dream Syndicate, where beautiful and languid psychedelia met moody folk and rock-based songs. Cooper taps into this and more on her debut, wrapping her reverbed vocals in swirling, warm echoes of sound and nuanced musical lushness thanks to the addition of keyboards, pedal steel, a glockenspiel here and a banjo there.”
“Atmospheric folk-rock with psychedelic flourishes.”
“‘Mountain Man’, with its Fleet Foxes-esque vocal harmonies and delicate acoustic guitar, is captivating enough on its own, but its VR-themed music video is not to be missed.”
“[‘Fondly & Forever’] has that rare quality that allows it to appropriately
soundtrack both a packed theater and an empty dive bar.”
“It’s an auspicious, slow-burn introduction to an artist with a vision, one we hope to hear more from…Cooper is an insightful, reflective, poignant, and occasionally dryly humorous singer/songwriter/guitarist and her two-piece ‘stampede’ backing unit follows that lead.”
“The band dexterously navigates a recording studio…overdubs and guest
performances augmenting but never eclipsing the trio’s fundamental modus operandi. Window Flowers is a stellar iteration from the Nashville-based band, one
of the more potent releases of the year.”
“Liz Cooper & The Stampede are one of the finest folk rock bands that we have…Cooper has a one-of-a-kind voice…it’s distinctive, emotive, and thoroughly engaging, drawing you right into the song like a massive welcome mat. The group’s music might best be described as cosmic, psychedelic folk-rock, but whatever it is, it’s 100% irresistible.”
“What makes the mix cohere is the strength of the band’s identity,
marked by Cooper’s distinctive guitar work and her voice as a writer. As a unit,
Cooper and her bandmates (bassist Grant Prettyman and drummer Ryan Usher) showcase
a commitment to exploring creative impulses while staying true to their musical vision
of a joyfully raucous power trio.”
In celebration of the release, the band will perform a special album release show tonight at The Blue Room at Third Man Records in Nashville after an in-store set at Grimey’s New & Preloved Music. Subsequently, they will join Phosphorescent and Houndmouth on tours this fall. These shows follow the band’s busiest touring year-to-date, which featured performances with Lord Huron, Deer Tick, Rayland Baxter, Ron Gallo and Blitzen Trapper. See below for full tour details.
Recorded at Welcome to 1979 in Nashville with co-production from TJ Elias, Window Flowers is the culmination of a yearlong dedication in which Cooper pushed herself to spend every single day creating in at least one medium and saying “yes” to everything she was asked to do. Of the recording, Cooper reflects, “Our first time working with an outside producer and our first time in a proper recording studio was when we recorded Window Flowers. TJ Elias’ mad scientist ideas, an abundance of hot dogs, and lack of sunlight pushed us outside of our comfort zones to work more cohesively as a unit than we ever had before.” Joined in the studio by bassist Grant Prettyman and special guests Leah Blevins, Will Brown, Steve Dawson, Emily Kohavi, Michael and Ben Ford and Gianni Gibso, the new album follows Cooper’s earlier self-released EPs—Monsters (2014) and Live at the Silent Planet (2016). Alongside Cooper, “The Stampede” consists of Prettyman and drummer Ryan Usher.