In the field of gemstones, a tourmaline is a vibrant and multi-hued compound mineral comprised of various elements. Fittingly, as the title of the recent debut from the Loving Arms Race, Tourmaline is also a strong, emphatic lead-in album that boasts enough colorful rockist shards and offhanded swagger to warrant repeat listens. The band— Matt Anderson (guitar, vocals); James Arthur Bayer III (vocals); Adam Dooling (guitar, vocals); Lauren Hamilton (bass, vocals) and Philip Purvis (drums)—formed in 2022, during the wobbly and tentative post-Covid era. 

“After returning to Jacksonville after a couple years away I had been laying low. I played a couple solo shows but I was still trying to figure the next move, or even if one was necessary,” says Bayer, a longtime doyenne of the local music community. “Matt called me one night, and basically said, ‘I have all these songs sitting around, you should come by the shop.’” At the time, Anderson and Hamilton were running Eraser Records and they had a large backroom full of instruments. Bayer offers that the original concept was for he and Anderson to “bang out” pop songs. “We’d sit around and discuss Dylan and the Band, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, The Rolling Stones, etc.,” says Bayer. “We had decided to just whip out as many songs as possible, Guided by Voices-style with little focus on the business end but more so on the act of creating.” After months of demoing songs, the pair realized a band was in order. 

After fleshing out the rest of The Loving Arms Race, the band attempted to work within a more-staid studio environment, but opted to experiment and lean into the original intuitive rawness. “Ultimately, we decided to invest in some recording equipment and figure out the process ourselves,” explains Bayer. “We’ve all been in bands long enough to have some basic working knowledge and having the freedom to record at our leisure without an eye on the clock really opened up the possibilities.”

Clocking in at roughly 30 minutes, the nine songs of Tourmaline waste no time for introductory remarks. Stumbling in with a beery guitar line that reeks of early-‘70s Kinks, “Wide Open” plays like an anthem for bored sightseers, nothing happening and less to see. Along with a video from director Justin Nardone, the de facto single, “Everything, All the Time,” boasts a chorus-hook that digs pretty deep but the real joys of Tourmaline lay buried in the marrow; in particular the tracks “Tall Glass of Water” and “I Don’t Mind,” two tracks that evoke peak Faces and Mott the Hoople. For all of its overt rock, the real color scheme of Tourmaline is one of defeat and sadness. Case in point: “Queen of the Eyesores,” whose acoustic guitars and downer vibe takes the listener on a spin that recalls the late Nikki Sudden at his peak Keith Richards emulation.  

“I don’t think I’ve ever been known for writing feel good party songs,” says Bayer admitting he’s more “inward-looking” as a lyricist. “But coming out of the Covid years, surviving in the modern world… it’s bound to be melancholy. This is also the first record I’ve ever recorded sober. I was battling some demons mentally and I think a lot of that seeped into the lyrics and vibe of the record, for better or worse.”

Like much (if not all) of Bayer’s music, Tourmaline was released on Infintesmal Records, the label started by Bayer and his musical and business cohort, Nicklaus Schoeppel. Since 2009, the deliberately misspelled Infintesmal Records has released a whopping 80 records in various lengths and formats. The release date for Tourmaline had been held back as the label was waiting for the vinyl pressings from Eastern Europe. Infintesmal Records label has been a Rosetta Stone for anyone curious about the motivations and qualities (both good and bad) of the Jacksonville deep-underground music scene. Some of the label’s artists have been straight-ahead, predictable fare yet most (like the still-cryptic I Hope You’re a Doctor) are refreshingly bonkers and seemingly allergic to greater commercial considerations. 

Some 15+years ago, when Bayer and Schoeppel were barely of legal drinking age, they began playing live gigs locally and experienced a sobering and encouraging insight. “We realized there’s so many like-minded, incredible bands in this town [and] they don’t have records, they don’t have shirts, there’s no real network here,” says Bayer. “We were ill-equipped for the job, but we had all the heart.” Infintesmal Records handmade every release, while Bayer and Schoeppel would stand outside of area dive bars, hawking their bands’ homegrown products. Eventually, the pair were hosting weekly showcases at Shantytown Pub and the original location of Underbelly. “But it worked, and more weirdos crept out of the shadows.”

Bayer has been an active member of several Infintesmal bands, including Memphibians, Fever Hands, Electric Water, Miniature Suns, Tell Yer Children, and Beach Party. Unsurprisingly, the Loving Arms Race are a chimerical creature born out of the label’s gene pool and that particular genealogy, like most concentrated creative groupings (and cargo cults), gets downright incestuous: Bayer, Anderson and Hamilton were all in Fever Hands; Purvis and Bayer performed with Electric Water, while Dooling is a member of one of Infintesmal’s most viable bands, Gov Club. 

Arguably this very same familiarity is what makes Tourmaline such a compelling rundown through rock. The just-in-tune dominant-seventh-chord that jangles open the intro of “Sh***y Weekend” would sound sour if it rang out in perfect intonation; the drums and bass seem to kick in after someone chugs the last sip of beer in the band room-turned-studio. But the band never falters and when Bayer just hits the high notes on the chorus, it is the sound of him falling back into the band with confidence. 

Now at age 38, Bayer has entered the most unenviable yet grace-given position in all of rock music: growing older and surviving. 

“I must admit, it’s been weird being back in the fold after a few years away. It’s bizarre being the old guy on the block now,” says Bayer.  “My main impetus is to be better than the old heads that came before, that told me not to waste my time: ‘You’ll never do anything in this town, nobody cares here.’ There are so many exciting artists in this town, and it’s nice to be rubbing elbows with them. The beginning is still beginning.”

Tourmaline is out now on all streaming platforms and on vinyl via Bandcamp. The Loving Arms Race perform at The Walrus in Murray Hill on Friday, November 8 with support from Mercy Mercy and Honeypuppy. More information.