By Nicole Acevedo, Assistant Editor
The long awaited release of Seattle’s pop-rock band The Home Team’s second record has finally come to an end. Fans have patiently been playing the waiting game for three years, picking up on hints about the album’s title, release date, and potential tour for quite some time.
On October 22, 2021, The Home Team dropped Slow Bloom, two days after they loaded up the trailer to hit the road for their first headlining tour alongside Glacier Veins.
The four-piece is made up of founding members, drummer Daniel Matson and guitarist John Baran, vocalist Brian Butcher, and bassist Ryne Olson.
Writing for the album began way back in December of 2019, however, in our previous interview for WAMC Northeast Public Radio, Matson revealed that this was a period in which the band suffered from severe writer’s block.
“We were like, sitting in the van in a parking lot, and I think we were like waiting for the last person to come out of the shower, and I remember having a conversation about what the next year was gonna look like,” said Matson. “And I literally said, ‘You guys gotta be ready to not tour, not play any shows in 2020, because we have to write a new record…And it just so happened that you know, the pandemic hit.”
Utilizing the time they had during quarantine, the boys moved into the studio to begin recording and producing their latest work in June 2020. Long-time friend and fellow musician — Skyler Acord of Issues— produced the masterpiece heard today, and the big-name collaborations didn’t stop there. As they moved into the record’s final stages, “Generic Pop Punk” band Neck Deep’s Seb Barlow lent his mixing and mastering abilities to the rising artists.
“We’re so psyched that it’s finally out and everyone can hear what we’ve been working on the past two years!,” shared Matson via email.
“As I’m writing this we’re halfway through our first headlining tour on the new album, and the reaction has been insane. It feels so good to be back playing shows again, meeting real rockers in person, and getting to play these songs live for people.”
The Home Team has gained quite a bit of traction during the last 18 months. Their fanbase has expanded substantially, with their monthly Spotify listeners jumping from 148,000 back in May to just shy of 176,000 as of October.
The group’s rapid growth shocked them more than ever on September 1, 2021 when they were notified that their debut album Better Off, released in July 2018, had reached 10,000,000 streams.
“I can’t believe Better Off hit 10 million streams to be honest,” admitted Matson. “I remember a few months after we released it, we posted a picture on Instagram of the album hitting 250,000 streams and we were STOKED. I could’ve never imagined that it would resonate so well with people, and so many people would still be jamming it.”
With Slow Bloom’s overwhelmingly positive reception from fans and fellow artists, there’s no doubt that the sophomore album will reach the same acclaim as its predecessor.
The record clocks in around thirty-three and a half minutes, consisting of 11 powerful tracks. The Home Team dropped four singles and five music videos prior to the album’s debut. “Right Through Me” was the first single to hit streaming platforms, and it certainly did not disappoint. Butcher’s vocal range has developed immensely since the first time I heard them perform at a shotty bar in Sacramento, California. It was April 2018, and Butcher couldn’t have been older than 22. I had no idea who The Home Team was before they stepped on stage, but all it took was one song to fall in love.
Even back then, Butcher had a captivating stage presence that many newer bands lack, but he was still young and had some room for growth. Now, he radiates confidence across the stage and demands the attention of a crowd without even trying.
Every member of The Home Team has come a long way, and I think that stems from creating music that is a reflection of them as individuals rather than what may be expected from a band in their genre.
“This was the first time we felt like we moved as a unit versus being a handful of individuals bringing different songs to the band,” said Matson.
While The Home Team is grateful for the success their initial sound and record received, they’re excited to move forward in their musicality and embrace a new era.
Each of the boys revealed what track they’re most excited to perform live. Both Butcher and Baran are stoked to perform “Watching All Your Friends Get Rich.”
“It’s catchy all the way through, it’s a song that lyrically, Brian encapsulated a lot of the feelings I’ve been going through in my adult life,” Baran confessed. “Watching your friends and family excel at their careers while I’m working on my career in music, which is one of the most notoriously difficult industries to make a living in.”
Butcher added, “The level of production we put into that song was definitely unmatched compared to anything we’d done before, and the verse has so many feel good vibes without being cheesy. I also like how sarcastic it turned out, and the ending is unbelievably huge.”
For bassist Olson, the album’s title track is huge because “there’s a rippin’ sax solo, and it goes hard live.”
Matson weighed in saying that “On” is his favorite to perform given that they tried something really different with it.
“I’m super happy with how it turned out. Drumwise, I tried to strike a balance between really simple and open sections and some more intricate fills in the bridge. We also switch between a dotted 8th feel and a triplet feel on a couple sections, which is a super tiny detail that really satisfies my nerd brain,” he said.
To put it simply, Slow Bloom completely blew me away. Watching these boys develop their sound into something so wholeheartedly them, has been nothing short of emotional and I can’t think of a band that is more deserving of success.
