WL//WH Premiere: BANTOM WOODS’ Debut Single “Lotteries & Lightning Strikes” (Official Music Video)

WL//WH Premiere BANTOM WOODS

A long day dream with several stops along the way about being up to no good with the slim potential for vast riches and the age old question — what would you do with all the money? guitarist & vocalist John Hunt

WL//WH is very pleased to premiere the Official Music Video, directed by Craig Knapp, for the debut single, “Lotteries & Lightning Strikes,” via fellow label Shifting Sounds, by the Austin, Texas-based Alternative Indie Rock band Bantom Woods.

Although relatively new, the five-piece comprised of experienced stalwarts from the Austin Music Scene, with all members, namely John Hunt (guitar, vocals), Mark McMillan (bass guitar), Jeff Black (guitar, piano), Hector Lanza (guitar), and Andy Thompson (drums), playing in multiple groups spanning over two decades.

Bantom Woods combines Alternative Rock, Dream Pop, Post-punk, and early 90s underground College Rock to create their own signature sound that is very unique and ultra catchy.

“Lotteries & Lightning Strikes” comes from a story I read about this person who was amassing a ton of credit card points for his small business. A credit card company at the time was running some promotion where they would actually grant you a wish, and the wish they came up with was getting Archers of Loaf back together after having been broken up for a while. I thought, “well that’s dumb, a whole wish and you’re going to get a band back together?” But then I thought “I’d probably do the same thing” and the lyrics started to form around all the other dumb shit I’ve been involved with. In the end, the Archers declined the offer due to family/work obligations. As I was finishing the song, the Archers were finally getting back together and working on new material, so I fell back on another fav of mine: The Grifters, which sounds a lot less likely to happen these days.frontman John Hunt explains

An immersive and sentimental heartache song about modern life and how dreams of striking it rich moves people, set in the unhurried, soul-stirring open space of straightforward classic rocking melancholia, nuanced by evocative strains of nostalgic Americana, sways on the steady mid-tempo pace of bouncy drums, humming basslines, understated, distorted riffs, and dusty piano keys, topped by poignant meanderings of plaintive slide guitar melodies and obsessive aching trebly leads, to carry warm, inviting, deeply emotional vocals through heartwarming push and pull territories of hope and despair.

In The Official Music Video by Craig Knapp and Mark McMillan, flannel, t-shirts, and blue jeans set the laid-back mood for Bantom Woods as they perform “Lotteries & Lightning Strikes” under strobing lights. The vision shuffles hazy, vintage styled, out of the car window, driving footage throughout the clip and, after an emergence of both sunny and stormy skies, reveals a cloudy grey ending.

Bantom Woods‘ debut single, “Lotteries & Lightning Strikes,” is out now via Shifting Sounds on the major streaming platforms.

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