EXPO is an equal parts celebration and collaboration between Philadelphia-based musicians Dave McGrory (Tangled Up, Grace Vonderkuhn), Russ Israel (russy, Rew), and Tyler Yoder (Milieu Lust, High Reeper, Cosmic Guilt). While all members of the philly “super-group” have been dear friends for years now, and accomplished musicians for even longer, EXPO is a band that could have only come to fruition right now.

It’s not only the culmination of years of practice with their respective instruments, nor the developed proficiency for writing, recording, and production, but in many ways, EXPO is a reaction to the music the members have been engaged in for years prior… While each member has their own project, and actively plays in others’ and each other’s groups, in almost all said instances, the members need to play to best fit the immediate song, often-tastefully, and nobly, holding back for the sake of cohesion and the ultimate performance. In sharp contrast, EXPO is the counterweight – an opportunity to musically explore, musically challenge, and to indulge in excess. As if pent up after years of musical rigidity, the EXPO songs twist and wind with no reverence to classic song form, nor a singular aesthetic. The EXPO songs are the sound of the member’s jams running free.

While the recorded songs encapsulate this unbridled spirit, the tracks had humbler beginnings, originating in the shared living quarters and basement jam space of members Dave McGrory and Tyler Yoder in South Philadelphia. McGrory had shared some found-sound sample-based music with Yoder, and the rest would blossom from there. “Dave had been showing me his sample-based music for quite a while, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to flesh them out with anyone in a live setting yet, so it gave us a great place to start in terms of collaboration. That summer we sweated our asses off in our basement and actually wrote almost a full albums worth of tracks, narrowed it down to a few, and asked Russ to hop in to help pull together an EP.”

With the addition of Russ Israel, the EXPO lineup was solidified. With Dave and Tyler’s starting tracks and Russ’s knack for recording and production, the band created a four song EP of what can be best be described as garage-psych-epics-for-kids-who-like-to-club, all while being sure not to pigeonhole itself too squarely into that demarcation... The opening track on the EP, “POCKET,” begins with a sample-based groove reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem before metamorphosing into a post-punk chug with McGrory literally screaming “WORD I HEARD YOU’VE GOT NO NERVE.” Immediately after, “LIMITED HANGOUT” delivers one of the best psych-rock jams in recent memory, reminiscent of Comets on Fire or Tonstartssbandht, that’s sure to have you air-guitaring by the last thirty seconds. “HAVANA SYNDROME” is pure death disco while “BROKEN NEWS” closes the album with maybe it’s poppiest moment, but not before delivering a Ty Segall fuzzed out style STOMPER of a bridge.

But despite the feeble attempts to conjure sound-alikes, that’s ultimately in antithesis to the M.O. of EXPO. At it’s core, EXPO is an embodiment of what it means to truly follow the natural inspiration and create something entirely new. To indulge in your maximalist impulses, and to wholeheartedly trust in those random and / or zany ideas that come to you while doing the dishes, or driving, or engaged in the most mundane tasks… EXPO is the embodiment of true collaboration with friends who are all collectively ready to let loose. And with that in mind, it’s incredibly fitting that the band is called EXPO. On the closing track, “Broken News” McGrory repeatedly sings, as if becoming a mantra, “Look At Me Now.” Though he need not to ask twice – it’s hard to look away.