For the better half of last year, our staff made damn sure you knew the name Jake Ames. As co-founder of our May 2022 Artist of the Month Good Looks, Ames helped introduce us to “Vision Boards”, a KUTX airwave darling that’s seemingly become a generation-defining indie rock anthem. You may also remember that Ames was struck by a car on the verge of an expansive Good Looks tour..but don’t worry; he’s fine now and ready for you to feast on his latest collaborative labor of love…via The Stacks.

The Stacks got their start back in 2015, and have kept Ames’ insatiable, auteurist hunger and guitar-engulfed earworms front and center ever since. Pre-pandemic, the three-piece strictly existed in the live performance realm, only sharing their first studio single “Chicon” on April Fool’s Day 2021. “Chicon” proved far from a holiday farce and instead shook things up in the right direction for The Stacks, whose madman amp accumulation finally hits wax this weekend.

The Stacks’ debut 8-track, Lay Me Down To Rest, coincides with a record release show 9PM this Friday at Hotel Vegas alongside openers Rusty Dusty, Redbud, and Sammy G. So check out just how well this un-toppleable trio…stacks up in person and anoint yourself with one of Lay Me Down To Rest‘s most serene blessings. “St. Michael” was actually The Stacks’ sophomore studio offering (initially issued in May 2021), but its hallowed vocal harmonies, empyrean rhythms, and blissful six-string licks slap so hard, even an erratic archangel could be cajoled back to a state of calm.