Winnetka Bowling League Share New Song 'America In Your 20's'

Los Angeles’ Winnetka Bowling League have shared “America In Your 20’s,” another taste of their forthcoming debut album Sha La La, which is out May 31.

The album is a document of frontman Matthew Koma rediscovering what he loves about music; a back-to-basics and grounded release that finds him taking risks while being in conversation with his younger self.  

Of the song, Koma states, “America in your 20’s is my own bulls about loving and hating where I come from. You ask a lot of questions in your 20’s and I think that’s when you start to realize the answers are all gray and nuanced.” 

Winnetka Bowling League previously shared the incessantly catchy single “Handsome,” as well as the album’s title track. Koma was recently the guest on the Artist Friendly with Joel Madden podcast where he discussed the upcoming album and touring plans - listen to that here. 

Winnetka Bowling League will be playing songs off Sha La La and other fan-favorites from their previous numerous EPs and singles as they hit the road this summer on a headlining tour with dates kicking off June 25 in Seattle, WA. They will make a stop at the iconic Troubadour in Los Angeles on June 29 and the tour concludes in New York City at The Bowery Ballroom on July 23. 

Reflecting frontman Koma’s inner world that collides comedy with music, buzzy stand-up comedian Veronika Slowikowska will support the New York show, Caroline Baniewicz will support in Chicago, and Stef Dag in Los Angeles. Indie up-and-comer Emi Grace will kick off the night on the West Coast, and Akira Galaxy in the east. This Fall Winnetka Bowling League will head back on the road for a U.S. tour as the direct support for Mother Mother. Those dates start on September 12 and conclude October 4. All dates are listed below and tickets for all shows are on-sale now and available here.  

In between trolling the cast of Love is Blind while high on valium post-vasectomy, online feuding with Candace Cameron Bure and trying to get Tiger King out of jail Koma, along with his bandmates Kris Mazzarisi (his brother), and Sam Beresford penned Sha La La ten transportive tracks, exploring masterful melody-making, sardonic lyrical specificity, and a profound sense of rock’n’roll timelessness. 

The origins of Winnetka Bowling League started with an existential crisis. Though Matthew Koma’s childhood was spent listening to Elvis Costello and Squeeze and growing up in the East Coast hardcore and punk scenes, most of his adult life had him writing songs for electronic musicians and pop stars. “It was successful and fruitful but I also absolutely despised it,” he says. “I felt like I was serving others and not really having the experience with music that I wanted to have.” He was still drawn to the rock music of his youth and wanted something rewarding and grounded that was wholly his. So, in 2018, he started a band. “It's very stupid to go to your pregnant girlfriend at the time and say, ‘Hey, I know we're about to have a kid but I'm going to stop working on big pop records and start a rock band,’" he jokes. 

Compared to his role as a pop and EDM songwriter and collaborator, this band gave him the freedom to explore what he truly loved about music. “What I grew up valuing were these poets and the storytellers,” says Koma. “That's what I was trying to channel with this project. I didn't want to consider anyone else's experience as much as I just wanted to tell the stories I wanted to tell… whether they're universal or weird, esoteric experiences that only make sense to me.” In 2018, Winnetka Bowling League released a self-titled EP that kickstarted a breathlessly prolific streak of singles through 2022 that included viral songs like “On the 5,” “CVS,” and “Slow Dances.” A debut album was Koma’s next hurdle and he knew he had to creatively best himself. 

Early on in the process, he wrote a wistful but peppy song called “Sha La La,” which became the title of the album and the North Star for the rest of the tracklist. “Whenever I'm sitting down to work on a body of work, there's always one song that informs the rest,” he says. “I'm a sucker for the bittersweet and I am always after that feeling in my gut that dilutes the joy with some sadness: ‘Life is good, but how good is it? Was it better before?’ I think a lot about the past: more in a way of disbelief that it's over.” All the heart-on-sleeve storytelling is imbued with a keen sense of alt-pop euphoria, especially on “Handsome,” which Koma jokes, “is not that deep. There's a lot on the record that's pretty serious but this was a fun tune that works as a palate cleanser.” 

For Winnetka Bowling League, there’s power in this realization on Sha La La. Sure, the years pass faster the older you get but there’s a galvanizing joy in remembering and reclaiming both the good and the grit of youth. “Your 30s are a weird time reckoning your 20s,” says Koma. “In these tunes, I hope that people feel like they're revisiting versions of themselves when they hear it because that's what it felt like to me writing it.” 

Winnetka Bowling League is Matthew Koma (guitar), Kris Mazzarisi (drums), and Sam Beresford (keyboard).

WINNETKA BOWLING LEAGUE TOUR DATES

6/25 - Madame Lou's - Seattle, WA

6/26 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR

6/28 - Cafe Du Nord - San Francisco, CA

6/29 - Troubadour - Los Angeles, CA

6/30 - Valley Bar - Phoenix, AZ

7/02 - Meow Wolf - Denver, CO

7/11 - Uptown Theater - Kansas City, MO

7/12 - Lincoln Hall - Chicago, IL

7/13 - A&R Music Bar - Columbus, OH

7/15 - Exit/In - Nashville, TN

7/16 - Purgatory at The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA

7/17 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC

7/19 - Songbyrd Music House - Washington, DC

7/21 - Sonia - Cambridge, MA

7/23 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY

9/12 - Knitting Factory - Spokane, WA *

9/13 - Revolution Concert House and Event Center - Boise, ID *

9/14 - The Wilma - Missoula, MT *

9/17 - The Fillmore Minneapolis - Minneapolis, MN *

9/18 - Val Air Ballroom - Des Moines, IA *

9/20 - Steelhouse Omaha – Omaha, NE *

9/21 - The Factory at The District - St. Louis, MO *

9/22 - The Sylvee - Madison, WI *

9/24 - Egyptian Room at Old National Centre - Indianapolis, IN *

9/25 - House of Blues Cleveland - Cleveland, OH *

9/26 - Newport Music Hall - Columbus, OH *

9/28 - Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom - Hampton, NH *

9/30 - Toad's Place - New Haven, CT *

10/3 - The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC *

10/4 - The Fillmore Charlotte - Charlotte, NC *

* = support for MOTHER MOTHER

Sha La La tracklisting

1. Sha La La

2. Noone’s Ever Kissed You

3. We’re Broken Up (But Even More Together Now)

4. Astrology & Context

5.America in Your 20’s

6. Handsome

7. We’re Not Having Any Fun

8. Breakfast For Dinner

9. Jesus Saves

10.  Happy Adjacent

Photo credit: Paige Sara

To post a comment, you must register and login.