Gun Outfit - Clean Runs the Thread (2020)

Upon moving to Los Angeles from Philly, I found the change to be disorienting, coming from this very deeply communal vibe of music and art and neighborhood friendship (with a bit of darkness and some solid middle fingers) in contrast to this sunlit and flower-strewn city of beach culture and music work and everyone scattered a drive apart. Although I welcomed the change and the wintertime technicolor, Los Angeles felt alien in a way, but when I met my friends in Gun Outfit and heard them play, I saw a layer that could be home.

Gun Outfit reminds me of the best parts of playing music: the clear freedom and beauty in trying something out, no preciousness or posing; the fun of collaborating with different people and jamming to see what happens but being thoughtful about it because it's your favorite thing. It's a language I love, and you can't fake it--it rings so true when you hear it.

So, I'm thrilled to be able to help present this compilation of some songs from past tapes put together just for this White Label Series, some re-worked or added onto—each with its own miniaturized history in there—and the sound of human connectedness and harmonies, new but familiar. Although it's released in this strange time when we can't really hang out except at a distance, this record feels like the opposite of a sterile quarantine, feels like the best warm company.

Mary Lattimore
-Curator