Touche Amore at Irving Plaza
Elliot Babin with Touche Amore at Irving Plaza in 2017 (more by Wei Shi)

stream Warm Thoughts' (Elliot of Touche Amore) 'I Went Swimming Alone' LP

Touche Amore at Irving Plaza
Elliot Babin with Touche Amore at Irving Plaza in 2017 (more by Wei Shi)

As you may know, Touche Amore drummer Elliot Babin is also a solo artist that used to go by Dad Punchers but changed his moniker to Warm Thoughts in 2015. Compared to Touche Amore’s dead-serious post-hardcore/screamo, Warm Thoughts is lighter-sounding indie rock/emo that’s a little closer to, say, Joyce Manor (whose bassist Matt Ebert played on his 2012 debut LP). His next release is the I Went Swimming Alone LP, for which he wrote and recorded every instrument, though this was the first time he worked with an outside producer: Zach Tuch. It’s great stuff — driving, super catchy, and more evidence that Elliot is not just a beast behind the kit but also a solid singer and songwriter in his own right. Here’s what Elliot tells us about it:

In late 2014, I came home from a four month tour and spent three weeks cooped up without any human interaction. I went from being surrounded by people 24/7 and having every hour of the day planned out to being in complete silence with no purpose. It was jarring. The juxtaposition of environments and the discovery of coping mechanisms was what led to I Went Swimming Alone.

The album comes out this Friday (6/8) via Asian Man, but first a full stream premieres in this post. Listen below. If you like what you hear, pre-order it.