In the earlier part of our fair century’s first decade, vocalist Chris Taylor, guitarist (and brother) Mike Taylor, and drummer Johnny Ward played in the Sterling, VA 8 piece punk behemoth Pg. 99, who last played in 2003 (though have recently announced a one off reunion show). After three years of various new projects (such as Malady, Mannequin, and former Lovitt act Haram), the Taylors, Ward, and friend Mike Widman got around to forming Pygmy Lush, which at first glance seemed to represent a bit of a “return to form.” Longtime followers were enthusiastic about the abrasive chaos of Pygmy Lush’s early sets, a sound they had perfected in Pg.99. However, it wasn’t long before they had their audience’s heads turning, creating a completely different set of quiet, acoustic based songs, some being alternate versions of heavy ones they already had. Soon enough, each show had the crowd waiting to see what the mood of the night would be.
Their debut full length, Bitter River, released on Richmond’s Robotic Empire, was an amalgamation of these abrasive punk and dismal, dark folk tunes, sounding almost like an eccentric mix tape. After extensive touring, they recorded the full length follow up, Mount Hope, with Kurt Ballou in Salem, MA which came out on Lovitt in 2008. Mount Hope focused solely on the band’s “soft” side, though it wouldn’t be long before they returned to louder matters, putting out a 2009 split full length with Washington D.C.’s Turboslut, on Philadelphia’s Exotic Fever Records. The band toured North America several times over in support of these records, playing festivals such as SXSW and The Fest along the way.
 
Old Friends was recorded in one week at the end of 2010, once again with Ballou manning the boards. Joining the band this time around is drummer Eric Kane, who you may have seen laying fast punk beats for Virginia heroes Strike Anywhere over the last decade.  With a new, even stronger backbone, Old Friends sees the band digging deeper into its own fertility. They have plans for several new releases looming on the horizon, including a two song 7" with songs from the Old Friends sessions that didn’t fit on the album. These folks have been playing together longer than some teenagers have been alive, so it does not appear that they plan on stopping anytime soon.