The Broken West

Originating in Los Angeles, The Broken West fused pop with energetic rock & roll while adding folk and country inflections whose overall character evoked the strongest early-1970s output from that city, much as if Emitt Rhodes had collaborated with the Byrds. Texas native Ross Flournoy handled vocals and guitar, Connecticut-born Dan Lead played guitar and supplied backing vocals, California natives Brian Whelan and Scott Claasen took care of bass and keyboards respectively, and former Floridian Rob McCorkindale sat behind the drums; the musicians first convened in mid-2004 across the Echo Park and Silverlake sections of Los Angeles.

Performing at the outset as The Brokedown, the group cultivated a solid local reputation through favorably received club appearances and drew critical notice with the May 2005 release of its debut EP, The Dutchman's Gold. Strong reviews for the recording and the tours that followed led respected indie label Merge Records to offer a contract. The band tracked its first full-length, I Can't Go on, I'll Go On, piecemeal across a full year, only to discover midway through the process that another act in Chicago already held the name and had dispatched a lawyer with a cease-and-desist notice. The musicians therefore adopted the name The Broken West, and Merge issued the album under the revised identity in early 2007.

A second Merge album, Now or Heaven, followed in 2008. The Broken West disbanded before completing a third record, yet Whelan and Flournoy resumed their partnership after the 2009 breakup. Retaining a comparable pop-oriented approach, the pair formed Apex Manor and delivered the project’s debut album, The Year of Magical Drinking, in January 2011.