Portland “roots rockers” Balto sound like the kind of band you’d want playing in the background as you cruise down the highway with a road soda clutched in your hand (except don’t drink and drive people). Their blend of Americana, gospel, alt-country, and a speckle of psych brings some much needed levity to my ears, specifically on their new single “Shots in the Dark”. Listen up. 

“This songs basically wrote itself,” guitarist and vocalist Daniel Sheron told me. “All the themes, parts, and stories just fit together immediately – same thing when we started playing it as a band – everything just fell into place the second Seth [Mower, drums] counted us in.” 

Their new album, Strangers, drops February 24th on Total Reality Meltdown. –Maya Eslami