WHEN WOLVES COUNT SHEEP is an attempt to both escape from and reconcile oneself with reality. The initial iteration could barely qualify as a garage band, borne from the compulsion to combat the conformity of Southern California’s suburbs inherent to the early aughts. The earnest penchant for creation largely laid dormant for years, evinced in work for which others would claim credit, until those two best friends from the cul-de-sacs of the Inland Empire had a chance run-in with a long-lost like mind, and together they built the foundation of what would become the group’s first LP.

With some singles sketched out, the band that had barely yet to be was bound for dismemberment. Along with most everything else, 2020 shut down operation, but it also marked the untimely death of founder and bassist, Mike Andrews. Impossible as it seemed to proceed, Mike’s passing was the impetus behind immortalizing some of his final work. The roles in the band had shifted, and writing, while remote, became more collaborative and ambitious.