Pedro the Lion

Pedro the Lion
Pedro the Lion performing
Background information
Origin	Seattle, Washington, United States
Genres	Indie rock, slowcore, emo, lo-fi
Years active	1995–2006
Labels	Jade Tree, Suicide Squeeze, Architecture Label, Tooth & Nail, Made in Mexico
Website	www.pedrothelion.com
Past members	See list of former members

Pedro the Lion was an indie rock band from Seattle, Washington. David Bazan formed the band in 1995 and represented its main creative force, backed by a varying rotation of collaborating musicians. In 2006 Pedro the Lion was dissolved as Bazan went solo. Releasing four full-length albums and five EPs over 11 years, the band was known for its first person narrative lyrics with political and religious themes.

Pedro the Lion was made by David Bazan in 1995 and released its debut EP Whole in April 1997. Bazan played nearly every instrument on the band's first two full-length albums, It's Hard to Find a Friend (1998), and Winners Never Quit (2000).

Winners marked Pedro the Lion's first concept album. After its completion, Bazan has claimed he initially decided not to continue writing concept albums. However, in the process of writing his next full-length Control, he realized he had inadvertently created a narrative link "about 70% of the way through [the album]" and decided to finish it in the same vein. The album's thematic content criticizes American capitalism, which Bazan notes was largely inspired by the sentiments surrounding the World Trade Organization protests in 1999.

Control also saw Casey Foubert of Seattle-based Seldom join Pedro the Lion to play bass on the album. Additionally, he co-wrote "Penetration" and "Second Best", the third and eighth tracks, respectively, on the album, which was released in 2002.

Achilles Heel followed, released on May 24, 2004, and marked the beginning of Bazan's partnership with TW Walsh as the band's primary writers and musicians. Bazan described the tracks in the third full-length from Pedro the Lion as a return to the songwriting characterized by Friend and the Secure EP in the sense that there was no "pretense of anything bigger", an allusion to his previous concept albums.