Jazzy surf-punkers the Gloomies features Andy Craig, a one-time local who was based in NYC in 2009 when he began a two year stint with psych-pop band Guards, which toured with Alt-J and Cults and played the Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Primavera festivals. In 2013, he launched Sacco, which followed a more hypnotic groove, though that band played its last gig in November 2014 and Craig returned to California.
Craig told the Reader “Even if you move back, I think everybody should leave San Diego and get out there, especially if you were born here. I think if you never expand your horizons you’ll have a narrow outlook. If you are into art and music and you want to grow and learn, New York pushes you more than San Diego.”
After returning to San Diego, Craig formed the Gloomies with drummer Chris Trombley (who played with Craig in Sacco). They were soon signed to Thrill Me Records, which had a San Diego/NYC axis, with label co-owner Cory Stier (of the band Hideout) based here (partner Gabe Rodriguez was in NYC). Thrill Me has handled other local acts like Mrs. Magician, Lowlands, Jacob Turnbloom, and Hideout.
The debut Gloomies single “LSD” was released by Thrill Me in October 2015, earning them a Buzz Band of the Week nod in NME magazine, as well as nods from Noisey, DIY, and Entertainment Weekly.
As of 2016, the band included Craig, Chris Trombley, and brothers Grant and Blake Martz (Idyll Wild). Their Blackout EP was released in April of that year on Thrill Me Records, preceded by the lead single "Bleached Out."
They spent Autumn 2016 on tour with CRX, a new heavy metal power pop band featuring the Strokes’ Nick Valensi. Their 2017 single, "Space," features Madeline Follin of Cults and is mixed by Cults songwriter Brian Oblivion, with additional assistance by producer-engineer Shane Stoneback.
A new single appeared in April 2018, "Tiger," supported by touring the following month with Cullen Omori. It preceded a full-length that dropped in July, Romance.
March 2020 saw the release of a new album, Are We Getting Better, preceded by singles for “Moonlight” and “Sick Like You” (both released in late 2019) and "Sideways" (January 2020). A video was released for "Nightflight." "Nightlight came from a time in my life when I had incredibly bad insomnia," says Andy Craig. "The band and I would be up all night long recording and messing around on new songs. This was happening over the course of months, and everything started to sort of blur together. This song is about that state and how it feels to become lost in that haze."
Frontman Andy Craig describes "Sideways" as "A hazy and fuzzy reflection on feeling lost in your own life...the song captures the depth of intense, muted emotions surrounding this notion of aimlessness, which can so often be as anxiety-provoking as its lyrics suggest."
A new single dropped in late 2021 for “Out There,” mixed and mastered by Blake Martz, following up their summer single "I Can See You Now."