Sharing their debut single “No Champagne” is Athens, Georgia based band Lo Talker. Founding member and singer/songwriter Andrew Shepard says “No Champagne” is about “having a reckoning with your past, fighting a religious culture war with political weirdos and grifters, and the absurdity of just being during the American panorama of the last few years.” Lo Talker is also brought together by Shepard’s brother, Zach (bass), Alec Stanley (guitar/keyboard), Rhett Fuller (guitar), and Jeremiah Johnson (drums).
The album was produced, mixed, and engineered by Kevin Ratterman (Jim James, My Morning Jacket) who’s a longtime friend of Lo Talker. Their lyrical style of writing stands out on its own and really brings the song to a whole new level. It feels more sophisticated, but with a balanced level of inventiveness that adds a lot of dimension and color to the table. The groovy and somewhat bluesy feel is another nice touch that they added and was well executed.
“No Champagne” is fun and quirky, but the seriousness of Shepard’s message still shines through the visuals.