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“The band’s austere style inflects the astringent twang of The Velvet Underground with the drone of R.E.M. and adds countryish echoes that recall Gram Parsons…” Stephen Holden The New York Times

After 20 years as the leader of The Silos, it would be easy for Walter Salas-Humara to sink into a creative comfort-zone, turning out likable, catchy tunes with zero edge. Not so. Come On Like The Fast Lane buzzes with rock energy reminiscent of the proto-punk lower East Side legends like The Velvet Underground and Television, punched up with pop melodies that resuscitates a sound that never went out of style. The songs on Come On Like The Fast Lane play out like minimalist short stories framed by the spacious, guitar-heavy arrangements the band is known for.

On Come On Like The Fast Lane, recorded in Phillip Glass’s Looking Glass Studios, The Silos put their power-trio to the test. The band employs layered guitars to add depth and transcendence to the album’s introspective tracks, switching to ferocious, hook-laden rock to part the clouds and land back on terra firma. It’s this ability to draw on an inexhaustible well of emotions with turn-on-a-dime transitions that sets The Silos apart; naked honesty and joyous melodies never sounded so good together. It will come as no surprise that early in their career, The Silos were named “Best New American Band” by Rolling Stone magazine. After several brushes with fame and numerous critically acclaimed albums, it is heartening to know that the band continues to make brilliance look easy.

Come On Like The Fast Lane opens with the Salas-Humara/Steve Wynn co-penned “Behind Me Now”, showcasing guileless pop guitar breaks while questioning hidden meanings with equal application in the personal and political. A bleaker view presents itself in “People Are Right” as Salas-Humara describes the condition of a “…heart that is adrift between the shores and heaven and hell”. “Keeping Score” takes the high lonesome sound associated with soundtrack genius Ennio Morricone and infuses it with distinctively American noir elements.

The Silos hit the road in March in support of this February 20th release, expect an impressive number of performances at SXSW in Austin during their North American trek this spring.

To check out the lyrics to Come On Like The Fast Lane, go here!

"...their no frills rock style suits east Texas every bit as much as the Lower East Side." Absolute Sound

"In less skilled hands, this kind of genre-jumping would indicate a band that can't commit to a sound, but The Silos are much too gifted to suffer from anything as pedestrian as indecision. Salas-Humara has always reveled in his creative schizophrenia and Come On Like the Fast Lane is further proof of his extraordinary ability to incorporate his myriad influences into a singular sonic coat of many colors." Brian Baker City Beat

" With equal parts twang and rock, and enough ferocious guitar feedback to make Crazy Horse grin, the Silos sizzle with tightly packaged songs bristling with unbridled energy." David McPherson Exclaim

"A ragged scorcher of an attack that combines the mercurial feel of the Velvet Underground with the assertive middle-finger of Exile-era Stones." Lee Zimmerman Amplifier

"These guys refuse to slip into some comfortable old sound as they continue to put out original music laced with heavy guitars and a style that falls some where between Velvet Underground and REM. Pounding with Punk Rock energy and pumped up with pop melodies that withstand the test of time, The Silos are certainly worth checking out." Rhonda Gunter The Current

"Mr. Salas-Humara’s compositions, which include rave-ups and tender ballads enriched by Drew Glackin on lap steel, are direct and compact with a true pop sensibility." Jim Fusilli The Wall Street Journal

"The country in the songs sounds like Arizona by way of NYC—a touch of space and twang matched with hard, no-nonsense guitars and no-time-for-art lyrics. Now [Walter is] simply a credible narrator telling us the stories of people coming to grips with lives that didn’t turn out the way they thought they would." Alex Rawls Offbeat