Pedro The Lion

Pedro the Lion was formed by David Bazan in 1995[1] and released its debut EP Whole in April 1997. Bazan played nearly every instrument on the band’s first two full-length albums, It’s Hard to Find a Friend (1998) and Winners Never Quit (2000).

Winners marked Pedro the Lion’s first concept album.[2] After its completion, Bazan has claimed he initially decided not to continue writing concept albums.[2] However, in the process of writing his next full-length Control, he realized he had inadvertently created a narrative link «about 70% of the way through [the album]» and decided to finish it in the same vein.[2] The album’s thematic content criticizes American capitalism, which Bazan notes was largely inspired by the sentiments surrounding the World Trade Organization protests in 1999.[2]

Control also saw Casey Foubert of Seattle-based Seldom join Pedro the Lion to play the drums and keyboard. He additionally co-wrote «Penetration» and «Second Best», the third and eighth tracks, respectively, on the album, which was released in 2002.

Achilles Heel followed, released on May 24, 2004, and marked the beginning of Bazan’s partnership with T.W. Walsh as the band’s primary writers and musicians.[3] Bazan described the tracks in the third full-length from Pedro the Lion as a return to the songwriting characterized by Friend and the Secure EP in the sense that there was no «pretense of anything bigger», an allusion to his previous concept albums.[2]

In early January 2006, Pedro the Lion formally announced that they had split. The split was amicable; Bazan and Walsh continue to be good friends. Bazan said that their friendship has even been strengthened by the breakup.[4] Bazan toured in support of Fewer Moving Parts, his solo debut EP. Walsh returned to his career as a Web application developer[5] and is busy with his band, The Soft Drugs, and their debut release, In Moderation. David Bazan released his debut solo LP, Curse Your Branches, on Seattle-based Barsuk Records in 2009.