ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
September 30, 2026
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
We're convinced that there's a timeline out there where Left Arm Tan is as much a household name as Old 97s. Where "Cocaine Skinny" shares jukebox space alongside "Rollerskate Skinny". Of course, the one-to-one comparison only goes so far, but Left Arm Tan share a penchant for Texas roots rock that skews pop, songs that land easy on the ears and cling to the memory like a tire on hot asphalt. We regard the outfit's remarkable streak from Alticana through Lorene and El Camino among the strongest three-album runs in our kind of music. "Best I Never Had" belongs on the soundtrack of a motion picture rom-com - some of Daniel Hines' tunes lend themselves to that sort of big-screen imagery.
And yet, aside from R&B and a few other bloggers who are bold enough to venture outside the bounds of the mainstream, Left Arm Tan's popularity never reached the audiences we'd anticipated. Following the terrific Undefeated, the band declared an indefinite hiatus. We include just one track from the self-titled Marfa Lights project, one that featured a couple bandmembers and boasted a creative origin story and a helping of Texas/Mexico border spirit. Then a few months ago an email from Daniel Hines shared the very welcome news of a new Left Arm Tan project. When Tigers Smoked is already available on Bandcamp, and has set an official release date of October 9 (with an album release show October 24 at Fort Worth's Magnolia Motor Lodge). We've included a streaming link following our usual Spotify playlist. If you are new to Left Arm Tan, we're excited for you! For those who are already familiar, these thirty songs will no doubt rekindle your appreciation.
LEFT ARM TAN: thirty favorites
- "Wish" Jim (2010)
- "Black and White Movie"
- "Nicotine"
- "Nowhere Blues" Thurm EP (2011)
- "Ghost Of Lila Pearl"
- "Fading Away" Alticana (2013)
- " 69 Reasons"
- "Long Yellow Stripe"
- "Omaha"
- "Gonna Find Me a Rock" Lorene (2016)
- "Blacktop Blues"
- "Freedom Bus"
- "El Camino" El Camino (2018)
- "Shortcut To Oblivion"
- "Looking At the World Through a Windshield"
- "Mistress Freedom"
- "Best I Never Had"
- "Mexicali Run" Left Arm Tan (2020)
- "Pawn Shop Heart"
- "Stars and City Lights"
- "It Ain't Love" Road Songs EP (2021)
- "California Sands" single (2022)
- "Pamplona" Undefeated (2024)
- "Undefeated"
- "76 Trans Am"
- "Born To Break Your Heart"
- "Cocaine Skinny"
- "Heart Like a Bruise" Marfa Lights (2024)
- "Rolling Under the Stars" When Tigers Smoked (2026)
- "Amsterdam"
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