Latchkey’s Where We Come From feels like someone dusted off the warm glow of 70s AM radio, stirred in country-soul harmonies, and ran it all through a punk-tinted filter until it snapped with attitude and tenderness at the same time. The Northern California five-piece — led by Jen Martell’s smoky alto, Nicholas Petti’s twang-infused storytelling, and John Taylor’s sly guitar work — leans into “a country Velvet Underground’s 3rd album” vibe without ever sounding derivative. Instead, they stretch that aesthetic into something lived-in, communal, and oddly glamorous in its scruffiness. Nicholas Petti wrote all the songs except Where We Come From, which is by Jan Martell.
And right from the opener, “Waiting in the Wings,” the album sets its emotional compass. Shimmering jingle-percussion flickers like little sparks while warm strumming guitars lay the foundation. Jen sings first, her husky, gentle tone carrying the weight of hindsight, before the drums rumble in and Nicholas joins her — deep, thick, and warm. Their voices brush together like two narrators finishing each other’s thoughts. The song circles around that bittersweet truth: you never really know if a relationship was good or bad until you let it go. It’s tender without being sentimental, pragmatic without losing heart.
Then Latchkey flips the mood with “Devilette,” a playful country shuffle draped in catchy percussion, tapping piano, and a rhythm section that feels like a backyard dance breaking out at golden hour. John Taylor leans into his huskiness flirtatiously and desirably singing, “No one loves you the way I do / Had to cast ten spells just to summon you.” The backing vocals float behind him, soulful and slightly mischievous, giving the song a fun, flirtatious lift.
By the time we reach “Winter Crow,” the band is in full storytelling mode. Deep, steady beats and thick, heavy guitars paint the grayscale world of a cranky homeless narrator picking through garbage like the crows he compares himself to. John Taylor sings with a soaring, weathered ache, “Feathers fall from the sky like tears fall from your eyes,” while a female backing vocal shadows him like a ghost of the life he lost. It’s evocative, cinematic, and surprisingly moving, that unfolds like a short film you didn’t expect to get pulled into.
Throughout Where We Come From, Latchkey blends humor, grit, sorrow, and sweetness in a way that feels effortless. It’s rootsy but not dusty, nostalgic but not stuck, and full of characters and emotions that feel real enough to sit beside you at a bar. The album doesn’t just showcase where they come from — it shows exactly where they’re going.
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Review by: Naomi Joan
1 comment
Thanks for the review. However, it’s John Taylor singing on Devilette and Winter Crow. Nicholas wrote the songs, however