In songwriting, inspiration can come from just about anywhere. People, places, and events are all too common examples. But for an artist like Meric Long, one half of famed Bay Area duo The Dodos, and in-house recording engineer for Tiny Telephone Studios (American Football, Moses Sumney) – it’s sound, perhaps unsurprisingly, that serves as his most elusive and rewarding muse.

When Long first stepped out on his own in 2017, under the FAN moniker, it was the cyclical hum of a broken bathroom fan that sent him down an obsessive synth hole in an attempt to recreate its oscillating siren. As time has a way of repeating itself, his latest wave of inspiration came crashing in, sweetly and literally, from his young daughter's toy drum kit.

“It all began when I tried to see if I could make her drum set sound cool,” says Long. Once the drum set was mic’d up and dialed, Long began adding guitar and vocals without overthinking anything. “The songs came together fast – it really just felt like a call back to playing guitar in my bedroom as a kid and just having fun.” The result is Kablooey – Long’s debut solo album to be released under his own name.

The album’s title is fitting, given Long’s desire to tap into an element of fun and spontaneity when it came to creating – whatever felt right in the moment was explored and committed to record, whether it figuratively blew up in his face or not. The album’s opening track, “Split Decision,” illustrates this feeling perfectly, providing the perfect backbone for the rambunctious and chaotic guitar work to follow.

That same intensity carries throughout the album, particularly on lead single, “A Small Act of Defiance,” which brims with nervous energy as Long’s rallying call to stop and reset before it’s too late conveys nothing short of immediate urgency. The song’s pummeling percussion and pulsating saxophones rock in syncopation, giving way to the sensation of barreling down an unforgivingly steep Bay Area street. It’s Long’s aim to awaken in time to pull the emergency break, singing “We’re on a fast track down to hell / Thinking it’s some heaven you built / Who will be resting on the spit / When it’s the celebration’s end?”

With the standout exception of vocal contributions from Spacemoth’s Maryam Qudus, and saxophonist Forrest Day, Kablooey is the sound of Long in a solitary quest of sound and inspiration – playing every other instrument by himself, often tinkering deep into the night after finishing another artist’s session hours earlier. Kablooey is yet another meaningful snapshot into the mind of Meric Long, whose decades-spanning contributions to music have been a major influence to California’s indie rock scene. Now as an established engineer, the album is a compelling look into his remarkable abilities as both a songwriter and a creator.

Performed, Recorded and Mixed by Meric Long

Mastered by Sarah Register

Additional vocals on tracks 1,2,4,7,8 from Maryam Qudus

Saxophone on tracks 3 and 5 from Forrest Day

Cover art from Laía Argüelles Folch, Two Ships (detail)

Layout and design by Ryan Miller