Sometimes I think about the shoegaze bands of the early aughts who carried the torch for a genre at a time when it was pretty deeply unfashionable. One of those was Los Angeles’ The Meeting Places, who released a couple records in 2003 and 2006 that jangled and reverberated in all those old familiar ways. They weren’t necessarily astonishing albums, but were still like water in the desert for fans of those sounds. I’d actually forgotten I saw them over 20 years ago during my first SXSW even though at the time, they were probably one of the acts I was happy was on the bill because I certainly wasn’t going to be seeing them in Toronto anytime soon. I should go back and remaster those pics for the old Instagram; maybe Photoshop AI can remove the stupid railings from the front of the stage at SoHo Lounge.

The band went inactive at some point between 2006’s Numbered Days, but returned to active duty in 2019 to play some shows and even released a new EP, You And I. The return to activity doesn’t seem to have gone much further than that, though.

“On Our Own” came from their 2003 debut Find Yourself Along The Way, which celebrated its 20th anniversary a couple years ago with a remaster and a vinyl reissue which, of course, if all sold out. But good for them.

Here’s a live performance of the song from a 2019 hometown show.