Alt-Pop Trio Smallpools Releases Part One Of Their Cinematic EP ‘Ghost Town Road (East)’
April 5, 2024 BY Emma Orland
Alt-pop trio Smallpools are entering a bold new era with the cinematic new EP Ghost Town Road (east), part one of their forthcoming full-length album out later this year. Written and recorded at guitarist Michael Kamerman’s house in Los Angeles, with collaborations from colin creeV of Third Eye Blind and Mitchy Collins of lovelytheband, the results are rife with everything that fans have come to expect from Smallpools – arena-ready hooks, impeccable production, music that crosses genre barriers without ever losing its definition. Purchase the EP HERE.
As a project that splits time between Los Angeles and Nashville, Kamerman, frontman Sean Scanlon, and drummer Beau Kuther reflected on the evolution of each city in the decade since their debut hit single “Dreaming.” “When the band first started, the goal was to play the free Monday nights at the Satellite, that’s all we wanted to do,” Kuther recalls. Once proving ground for ambitious local indie bands, the legendary Silver Lake venue closed permanently during the pandemic. Four years later, the space still lies vacant. Meanwhile, they’ve seen Nashville equally overrun by Brooklyn transplants, reality TV producers and bachelorette parties.
These are the images that inform Ghost Town Road (east) and the forthcoming full-length, named after a street sign that Kamerman saw passing through a stretch of the Nevada desert. “There’s not that many of the bands that we started with that are still doing it, so it feels a little bit like a ghost town out here now, especially post-pandemic,” he reflects. Yet, Ghost Town Road is as much a state of mind as it is a physical place, as Smallpools re-acquainted themselves with the Hollywood dive bars and restaurants that served as their communal, creative spaces in the early days. “Drive down Wilshire at night, it feels kind of like a ghost town as well,” Scanlon jokes.
Ghost Town Road (east) Track List:
- Swayze
- Night Shift
- Fake A Happy Face
- Motor Bike (Wild Ones)
- Caller ID
Smallpools are bringing their energetic live show to cities across the U.S. this April and May for their Night Shift co-headline tour with Grayscale. Catch the new music for the first time live and buy tickets HERE.
Smallpools Headline Tour Dates
w/ Grayscale
April 6 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage
April 7 – Nashville, TN – The Basement East
April 9 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall
April 11 – Washington, D.C. – 9:30 Club
April 12 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
April 13 – Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
April 14 – Asbury Park, NJ – The Stone Pony
April 16 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Cafe & Music Hall
April 17 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar
April 19 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
April 20 – Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
April 21 – Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck
April 23 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
April 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
April 26 – Bend, OR – Midtown Ballroom/Domino Room
April 27 – Portland, OR – Polari Hall
April 28 – Seattle, WA – Neumos
April 30 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
May 2 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
May 3 – Santa Ana, CA – Observatory
May 4 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
May 7 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues Dallas
May 8 – Austin, TX – Antone’s
About Smallpools
Smallpools called their shot with their 2013 debut single “Dreaming.” Since then, the trio’s experience has been nothing short of surreal. They’ve played festivals from Lollapalooza to Summerfest, earned RIAA gold and platinum plaques, held their own in arenas and late night TV and, along with their peers and collaborators like Grouplove, Walk the Moon, Twenty One Pilots, defined the sound that developed the alt-pop scene. With Smallpools’ recent signing to Nettwerk in 2023, the band is embarking on an exciting new chapter.
