While officially starting in 2013, the seeds of Lardo began with a one-off band featuring Nick Meiers and Brian Pennington back in 2010. The two Chicago-based musicians stayed in touch with hopes of future collaboration, though that only happened years later when Brian placed an online ad looking for a band to play his somewhat novel 'synth guitar' in. Nick responded and suggested bringing Jim Duffy into the fold: not only a sought-after live and session drummer with dozens of projects under his belt, but a frequent bandmate of Nick's dating back over 10 years. The trio slowly coalesced and booked a recording session before even playing out. Engineer Jon San Paolo from Electrical Audio was employed to record the band's early songs in a live, minimal overdub fashion. The band played shows here and there, but the early emphasis was more about their own creative fulfillment. Another batch of songs was written and then recorded with San Paolo again at the end of 2014. 

'Gunmetal Eyes' is the end product of these sporadic sessions. The LP's 10 song sequence is semi-chronological: side A representing the bands early mission statement-like songs and side B teetering into more abstract and occasionally playful territory. The band members share a love of their city's famed Touch and Go Records scene, but also find influence in everything from '70s German rock, pop, hip hop, and good 'ol classic rock radio. Lardo can be broken down into three elements: the tight, no-more-beats-than-necessary drums and bass, splatter-y digital guitar textures, and Meiers' not-so-subtle venting about his life as a CPS school teacher. The band is excited to release its debut album in the summer of 2015 on fledgling Alliterative Accord records, and will continue playing out and writing at a pace that remains fun and creatively rewarding.