Thursday, March 15   12:00 a.m.
Red Eyed Fly   (715 Red River St)

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After two years of wood-shedding gigs around the West Coast, and countless songwriting, recording and brainstorming sessions in founding member Greg Eklund’s garage recording studio in Los Angeles, the Oohlas have completed their debut album, BEST STOP POP. The self-produced album will arrive in stores September 26th on Stolen Transmission, the label launched this year by Sarah Lewitinn and Rob Stevenson, Island Records Executive Vice President, A&R.

Oohlas fans and other insiders snatched up the 100 copies that were minted in 2004 of the band’s hand-made independently-released six-song EP. Three of the songs from that EP – “Gone,” “Slow Mo Disco,” and “The Rapid” – were reprised on a limited edition, handmade run (250 copies) for their EP on Stolen Transmission six months later.

The Oohlas are comprised of Greg Eklund on lead guitar and vocals (former drummer of Everclear), his brother Mark Eklund on bass and vocals, Ollie Stone on guitar and vocals, and new drummer Luke Adams.

In addition to their presence around L.A., The Oohlas have built a strong following on their own website (www.theoohlas.com) and on MySpace (www.myspace.com/theoohlas), where four songs – “TV Dinner,” “Gone,” “Snow Shoes,” and “Small Parts” – have collected over 360,000 plays. Classic without sounding Retro, the Oohlas coyly entertain the dirty yet accessible production sensibilities of mid-’90s alternative rock, with beautiful melodies, interesting arrangements, and sophisticated writing that will no doubt invoke flattering comparisons to bands such as Belly, Veruca Salt, The Pixies and The Breeders.

Included in Alternative Press Magazine (100 Bands You Need To Know In 2006), the Oohlas were described best, "There's no limit to the bliss your ears will experience when you pop in their Stolen Transmission debut, slated for release this summer. With a combination of the Eklund brothers' sunny, electronic-infused pop melodies and [Ollie] Tamale's avant-garde vocal delivery, the Oohlas will have you ooh-ing and ahh-ing. We Promise" In a lengthy online profile in this week’s issue of In Music We Trust, correspondent Alex Steininger traces the band’s roots back to 2001, when Greg Eklund first began purchasing recording gear while on break from recording and touring with Everclear. He gradually converted his garage into a tiny recording studio and began writing songs, playing the instruments himself, “and trying to figure out how to engineer a record.”

His brother Mark soon moved to Los Angeles, to pursue a career in film and television sound mixing. Living nearby, he would help his brother with technical problems in the studio. Mark later met a young lady from Arizona named Ollie and, determined to start a band, they began auditioning guitar players – with unsatisfactory results. When Greg decided to step out from behind the drum kit and offered to play guitar, the Oohlas were born.

“It’s just been great to feel some real excitement about music again,” Greg told the writer. “I have been missing that the last few years. That’s why it was important for me to try something new like playing guitar and singing. Playing with Everclear got to be like a job and it was time for a change. I don't like flogging a dead horse. Been there done that. Move on to something new.”