Simon Doom

Simon Doom channels Simon O'Connor's fusion of grunge, garage, and psych-rock textures, an endeavor that sits alongside his established roles in Kuroma and Amazing Baby. The project took shape in 2014 once O'Connor recognized that material he was developing would lose impact inside his other groups; he revived the Simon Doom alias he had first used in his teenage punk band Thulsa Doom. Two longtime collaborators joined to expand the arrangements: guitarist William Flynn, known from Sleepers Work and an earlier tenure with St. Vincent, and bassist Jim Carroll, whose résumé includes Pure Love, Hope Conspiracy, and Suicide File. O'Connor and Carroll first met as teenagers at guitar camp. Apse drummer Brandon Collins and Kuroma bandmate Will Berman, who also works with MGMT, completed the lineup, enabling Simon Doom to begin live performances in late 2014. Early the following year the group recorded separate sessions with MGMT's Ben Goldwasser and the Replacements' Tommy Stinson that yielded the Simon Doom EP. Later in 2015 the arrival of O'Connor's son prompted him to devote greater focus to the band while time permitted. The Negotiate with the Monkey appeared in 2016, its track "Roseate" placed in the film Frank & Lola. For the 2017 album Babyman, O'Connor and his bandmates enlisted MGMT's Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser along with Passion Pit's Ayad Al Adhamy, Anni Rossi, and Tame Impala's Cameron Avery.