Lowertown, the duo of Olivia Osby and Avsha Weinberg, have released “Big Thumb” from their new album, Ugly Duckling Union. The track draws on Osby’s interest in collecting news clippings for lyric inspiration, a similar technique used in ’90s industrial music.
“Olive collected many different clippings and writings for us and spread them out on the ground so that when we would begin to play together, Olive on harmonica and me on 12-string guitar, we could sing the words that inspired us most,” Weinberg says. “What stuck was an almost mantra-like repetition of the words ‘Holding out the big thumb,’ which became the song’s conceptual core. The song became a reflection on the feeling of directionlessness in our generation, and how the paths of life that were carved out for previous generations are now void. We are left to drift along aimlessly or hopefully carve out some brand-new path.”
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The video, directed by I Saw The TV Glow actor Jack Haven, shows Weinberg as a struggling hitchhiker who has a run-in with a witchy Osby. To mark the track’s release, Lowertown will throw a free show and screening of the video at a secret location in New York.
Watch the video for “Big Thumb” below.
Lowertown 2026 tour dates
04/28 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Loft04/29 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair05/01 – Burlington, VT @ Radio Bean05/02 – Montreal, QC @ Ministere05/04 – Ottawa, ON @ 27 Club05/05 – Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck Room05/07 – Cleveland, OH @ Mahall’s05/08 – Indianapolis, IN @ HiFi05/09 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean05/10 – Whitefish Bay, WI @ The Argo05/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entry05/13 – Des Moines, IA @ xBK05/14 – Lawrence, KS @ The White Schoolhouse05/16 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge05/18 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court05/19 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club05/22 – Seattle, WA @ Baba Yaga05/23 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall05/26 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop05/28 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Cid05/29 – Orange County, CA @ Constellation Room05/30 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy05/31 – San Diego, CA @ Quartyard06/08 – Phoenix, AZ @ Valley Bar06/11 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger06/12 – Austin, TX @ 29th St Ballroom06/13 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada06/15 – Nashville, TN @ The End06/17 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (HELL)06/19 – Jacksonville, FL @ Hard Love06/20 – Orlando, FL @ Conduit06/22 – Miami, FL @ Lincoln’s Beard06/23 – Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum06/25 – Durham, NC @ The Pinhook06/26 – Washington, DC @ Songbyrd06/27 – New York City, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
