Good Looks

Texas roots rockers Good Looks are a band who uphold the Lone Star State’s history of strong, thoughtful songwriting while marrying it to a sound that’s informed by both indie rock and alt-country. The group’s music is sturdy and unpretentious, while making the most of echoey, muscular guitars that evoke late nights, the constraints of small-town life, and the lives of people struggling to find the source of their dissatisfaction. Their songs also reveal a political consciousness that embraces populism without authoritarianism. The band showed off the template of their sound on their fine 2022 debut album, Bummer Year, while they offered a harder, edgier attack on 2024′s Lived Here for a While. Good Looks was formed by lead vocalist and songwriter Tyler Jordan, who grew up in a town on the South Texas coastline dominated by the petroleum industry. He was raised in a household that practiced a strict and intense brand of Christianity, but as he became more aware of the divide between the rich and the poor in his community, as well as the way protecting nature was seen as subservient to the needs of business, he developed a strong political and social worldview of his own. He got interested in rock music, embracing a diverse range of artists, ranging from Spoon and Parquet Courts to Patti Smith, the common thread being songwriting with a strong point of view. When he was 19, Jordan left home and moved to Austin, where he shared the songs he was writing by busking on streets crowded with bars. It wasn’t long before Jordan made friends with Jake Ames, whom he’d met during an informal guitar pull at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Ames was a fellow aspiring tunesmith who inherited his love of music from his dad, who was a DJ at a country radio station. Jordan and Ames bonded over their respect for Texas songwriting icons like Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley, and they started playing music together. Drummer Phillip Dunne and bassist Anastasia Wright filled out the lineup. Adopting the band name Good Looks, they began making an impression on the crowded Austin music scene. Jordan was a fan of Dan Duszynski, a producer who worked out of a studio in nearby Dripping Springs, Texas, and after hearing some of Jordan’s songs, Duszynski agreed to work with the band. The session with Duszynski would cohere in Good Looks’ debut album, Bummer Year, which was released in 2022 by the Austin-based independent label Keeled Scales. By the time Good Looks began touring in support of Bummer Year, Robert Cherry had taken over as the group’s bassist. Though Bummer Year earned enthusiastic reviews, Good Looks weren’t able to enjoy their good fortune at first. Guitarist Jake Ames was hit by a car the same night they played their hometown record release show, suffering a fractured skull and tailbone. His injuries forced the group to cancel most of their shows in support of the album, though they were able to salvage one date — a set at the Kerrville Folk Festival, where Ames and Jordan first met. Bad news struck the band again in July 2023; just as Good Looks was setting out on a tour of the South and Midwest, their van was hit in a rear-end collision, and while the musicians escaped with only minor injuries, their van caught fire and was destroyed, along with their gear and their merchandise. Not about to let bad luck stop them, Jordan played the first few dates solo, and the band soon joined him after replacing their equipment and their vehicle. In July 2024, Good Looks released their second album, Lived Here for a While, which eased back a bit on their country influences in favor of a sharper attack informed by post-punk and indie rock. The record also introduced a new bass player, Harrison Anderson, replacing Robert Cherry. ~ Mark Deming