The Detours make their own kind of classic rock on new album ‘No Particular Reason’

The Detours’ debut album ‘No Particular Reason’ is the work of a band that understands exactly why guitar music from the 90s and early 2000s still resonates. Across its eleven tracks, the LA band pull from alt-rock, Americana, country, blues, classic rock and jangly 60s pop without sounding particularly concerned about where one influence ends and another begins. And that openness gives the record much of its initial charm.

Frontman Brett Kohler only began playing guitar after a difficult period in his life left him searching for something new. But what started as a hobby quickly turned into songwriting, then live performance, and eventually a full band almost by accident after he was offered a Viper Room show before he had actually assembled a lineup.

Kohler has described the album’s wider theme as the “LA dream”, exploring the idea of chasing something uncertain because the pursuit itself has become meaningful. The songs deal with relationships, change, disappointment and ambition, but the record rarely feels bitter, and there’s always this persistent sense of forward motion underneath it.

Much of the rhythm section for the album was recorded in a single day, helping preserve the natural energy of musicians playing together. Producer AJ Tucci then built around those performances with guitar overdubs and vocals, giving the record polish without sanding away its live character.

‘It’s Goin Down’ stretches into a more complex arrangement with time-signature changes and multiple sections, while ‘Losers Club’ introduces a full four-piece horn section and a more eccentric, marching-band flavour. Elsewhere, tracks such as ‘Recklessly Confused’, ‘Say Hello’ and ‘Miss You in the Morning’ show how comfortably the band can move between different shades of melodic rock.

Even their cover of Tom Petty’s ‘Runnin Down a Dream’ fits naturally into the wider picture. The band’s goal was not simply to reproduce a classic, but to find what would make it recognisably theirs. It’s an approach that applies equally well to the influences running through their original material as well.

The closing ‘Chasing’ brings the album’s themes into focus, leaving the record on the same idea that seems to have driven Kohler into music in the first place: keep moving towards something that matters, even when the route was never part of the original plan.

‘No Particular Reason’ is accessible, melodic and refreshingly unpretentious. For this new collection, The Detours are taking a familiar language, playing it with conviction and making it feel like their own.