First Listen: Local Zero "In Our Own Little World"
Wichita Falls quintet burns their first mark on the streaming landscape
Imagine the world before cell phones—before the internet. News traveled by print and word of mouth, and great new bands were discovered when your best friend played you a song or when you wandered into a live music venue expecting nothing and walked out having found the next big thing. With the recorded debut of Wichita Falls quintet Local Zero, today’s streaming listeners are about to experience the modern equivalent of stumbling into a club in 1978 and witnessing something special.
A fixture on the Wichita Falls music scene, Local Zero has been packing houses for years—and will no doubt do so again at Iron Horse Pub on New Year’s Eve. Yet until now, they’ve been curiously absent from the streaming world. Consider that problem officially solved with the release of their debut EP, In Our Own Little World, Part 1.
The four-track release drops on New Year’s Eve (with a promised Part 2 still to come) and immediately impresses with its polished musicianship, thoughtful composition, and confident lyricism from the very first notes.
Self-produced and mixed with refined precision, In Our Own Little World channels classic pop-rock energy. Barry Faulkner’s blues-tinged guitar leads the charge, supported by the seasoned, hired-gun-level chops of bassist Danny Craig and drummer Erik Coronado, while dual lead vocalists Jason Reeder and Jennica Lambert trade lines and emotions with ease.
One track in particular stands out. “Lovin’ by the Rules” [lyric video] is nothing short of stunning—a call-and-response love song about missed chances that evokes the soulful storytelling of a bygone era, when songs lingered long after the last note faded.
“It’s just being told from two points of view,” Faulkner explained. “The girl is unaware that the guy even saw her in the bar. They’re both wondering if they should have gotten it right, and each thinks the other has moved on.”
After several verses and a scorching Faulkner solo, “Lovin’ by the Rules” breaks down into a subdued scene in a bar. We hear the tinkling of glasses and muted conversations.
Reeder’s masculine tenor enters first:
I saw you at our place the other night / Had second thoughts that our timing wasn’t right / But you were with another guy so I just walked away.
Lambert answers with a sweet ache of her own:
I’m here staring into this guy’s eyes / Knowing he’ll never fit me right / Wondering what would have happened if we had just…
Together, they finish the thought—“gotten it right”—and then BOOM: the band crashes back in for a full-force crescendo.
This is musical craftsmanship at the highest level—the kind that raises goosebumps on your arms and the hair on the back of your neck. “Lovin’ by the Rules” deserves radio airplay and a permanent spot on any music lover’s playlist.
In Our Own Little World, Part 1 will be streaming on New Year’s Eve. The band will also have merch and CD copies available at their Iron Horse show that night, with vinyl editions planned for the future.
What a way to close out 2025.
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