Saturday Looks Good To Me

slgtm
Songwriters

Fred Thomas

Born as a basement recording project in the year 2000, Saturday Looks Good To Me brought together the jubilant fun of Motown and Northern soul with a decidedly indie approach. Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas poured generations of influences ranging from the Beach Boys to Guided by Voices into dusty pocket symphonies recorded on four track cassettes.

Enlisting friends from a community of musicians for one-time recording sessions was easy enough, but soon the band started performing live and the membership became a little harder to pin down. Rather than commit to one permanent lineup, Thomas opted for a revolving door style with the live group, and players and vocalists often changed from tour to tour.

This made for dramatic changes in sound, too. It wasn’t uncommon for SLGTM to show up in a town for the first time as a gentle chamber pop ensemble and come back a year later doing the same songs in a garage rock style with all new band members.

This constant shifting and experimentation was reflected in the group’s records as well. Between 2002 and 2007 the group released four proper albums and mountains of 7″s, compilations, tour only releases and the like, ranging in tone from the lo-fi sunshine pop of 2003’s critically lauded All Your Summer Songs to the cathartic atmospheric howling of 2007’s Fill Up The Room.

The band also toured constantly during this time, playing several European tours and traversing the US more times than could be counted. Despite the frequent line-up changes, Thomas was joined on most of these tours by key players in the band-family, including keyboardist Scott Sellwood, vocalist Betty Marie Barnes and drummer Ryan Howard.

The group ended a summer tour in May of 2008 with a show in London and promptly vanished into a vague hiatus. The extended SLGTM family worked feverishly on various new projects including Sellwood’s rugged Americana folk band Drunken Barn Dance and Thomas and Howard’s spectral indie duo City Center.

In early 2012, just as out of nowhere as the band’s disappearance, we’re happy to announce their return. Joined by new vocalist Carol Gray, Thomas and a stable of familiar friends return for a summer tour playing material from the band’s beginnings to songs written last week. A new album will follow in the fall and the almost crushing amount of beautiful possibilities in the world come into focus once again.

Releases

Saturday Looks Good To Me April 22, 2013 Ann Arbor District Library

Give Me Your Hands
Invisible Friend
Underwater Heartbeat
Everyday
Ultimate Stars
Empty Beach
Johnny
Are You Kissing Anyone
Sun Doesn't Want to Shine
Break In
Space Children

Saturday Looks Good To Me November 29, 2014 Zal Gaz Grotto Club, Ann Arbor Michigan

Are You Kissing Anyone
Overwhelmed
Empty Beach
Invisible Friend
Since You Stole My Heart
The Girl's Distracted
Polar Bear
Sun Doesn't Want to Shine
Ride to the Party
National Front Disco
Sunglasses
Ever-Present New Times Condition

Saturday Looks Good To Me May 16, 2014 Magic Stick, Detroit Michigan

Evan Knows I'm Miserable Now
Empty Beach
Overwhelmed
Ride To The Party
Polar Bear
Everyday
The Ever-Present New Times Condition
Sunglasses
Bickwall
Invisible Friend
Coke Floats
Government Center

Saturday Looks Good To Me Plays Outrageous Cherry

The Vastly Underrated Dennis Wilson Solo LP
Tracy
Togetherness
Our Love Will Change The World
Georgie Don't You Know
My Suspicious Midwest

Saturday Looks Good To Me One Kiss Ends It All

One Kiss
Invisible Friend
Empty Beach
Negative Space
New City
The Everpresent New Times Condition
Break In
Polar Bear
Are You Kissing Anyone?
Johnny
Sunglasses
Space Children

Saturday Looks Good To Me Forever​/​Inside

Where You're Standing
Everybody
One Fine Day
Beginning To See The Light
Break In (Demo)
Sunglasses (Screwed)
After Hours
OMG Hair Reaction
Invisible Friend
Lift Me Up
Underwater Heartbeat
Money in the Afterlife
Sun Doesn't Want to Shine
Empty Beach
Sunglasses

Saturday Looks Good To Me Sunglasses

Sunglasses
Give Me Your Hands

Saturday Looks Good To Me March 10, 2001 Carbon Lounge, Hamtramck Michigan

Introduction
Meet Me By The Water
Ambulance
Underwater Heartbeat
Starbucks Speech
Ultimate Stars
I Wish I Could Cry
Closing Speech
I Would Find It So Beautiful

Saturday Looks Good To Me 2012 Tour Cassette

Invisible Friend
Empty Beach
Polar Bear (Instrumental)
New City
Ride To The Party
Invisible Friend (Mono)
Empty Beach (Mono)
Polar Bear (Instrumental, Mono)
New City (Mono)
Ride To The Party (Mono)

Saturday Looks Good To Me Fill Up The Room

Apple
(Even if you Die on the) Ocean
When I Lose my Eyes
Make a Plan
Peg
Money in the Afterlife
The Americans
Edison Girls
Hands in the Snow
Come with your Arms
Whitey Hands

Saturday Looks Good To Me Cold Colors

Cold Colors
Drink My Blood
Illuminated Circles Dream of Backwards Running Vampires
Idiots
Spiderbite

Saturday Looks Good To Me Green Mansions

Glowering Gaze (Every Other)
Green Mansions
(Icicle Hands)
Peg
Third Part of the Night
(Leave Home)
Leave it Alone
(Yelling)
(Spelling)
How We Sound

Saturday Looks Good To Me March 2006 Tour EP

Girl From the North Country
(AARP)
(Zombie World)
Tell Me
Diver Drums
(Country Girl)
(Braying)
Dialtone (Demo)
(Laugh Laugh)

Saturday Looks Good To Me Every Night

Since You Stole My Heart
Until the World Stops Spinning
Keep Walking
All Over Town
The Girl's Distracted
If You Ask
Empty Room
When the Party Ends
Dialtone
We Can't Work It Out
Lift Me Up
When You Got to New York

Saturday Looks Good To Me All Your Summer Songs

Untitled
Meet Me By The Water
Underwater Heartbeat
Ambulance
Light Bulb Heart
The Sun Doesn't Want To Shine
Caught
All Our Summer Songs
No Good With Secrets
Alcohol
Can't Ever Sleep
You Work All Weekend
Typing
Ultimate Stars
Last Hour