Yeah I hear ya, they are playing tonight here in Orange County.
Ugh....

Jeff(bigtikidude)

bigtikidude wrote:

Yeah I hear ya, they are playing tonight here in Orange County.
Ugh....

I'm down here for NAMM, so will attend for sure...
So-ooo happy to see this band alive, much less playing that posted schedule...

Download (for free!) "Overhead At Darrington"--fiddle tunes arranged for surf-style electric mandolin--by Bruce Harvie and The Sandfleas here...

Thanks for the review, Ferenc! Very cool you got to see the show.

I completely get your critiques and recommendations, but I think one thing should be pointed out - if there were 300 people there to see them on a Monday night, then clearly they're doing something MUCH BETTER than the rest of us, who probably couldn't get 300 people to our shows under the very best of circumstances! Maybe it's exactly that simplicity and straightforwardness that people find appealing.

One quick thing: I think you're right about the way the keyboard player plays, holding down simple organ chords - but what's interesting is that's exactly how the organ in the Boss Martians sounded, and they were also from Seattle. I wonder if there's any influence there?

(BTW, the singer/guitarist Shana is a bit older than you pegged her - in an interview she said she's 32. Don't know about the others.)

Thanks, Ferenc!

Ivan
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IvanP wrote:

I completely get your critiques and recommendations, but I think one thing should be pointed out - if there were 300 people there to see them on a Monday night, then clearly they're doing something MUCH BETTER than the rest of us, who probably couldn't get 300 people to our shows under the very best of circumstances!

Ivan, I must disagree with you here. If you and the Madeira were on that same stage, playing the exact same music, I doubt the room would have been full. #1- I think La Luz gets a pass largely for being young and cute. #2- obviously, because of their vocals, they have access to the 99% of people who don't like instrumental music. #3- the audience at this show was young, too. Do they have Tuesday morning jobs, I don't know, but they definitely have more energy to stay out late on a Monday night.
Anyway, you only get one chance to be young, and La Luz is taking advantage of it!

One quick thing: I think you're right about the way the keyboard player plays, holding down simple organ chords - but what's interesting is that's exactly how the organ in the Boss Martians sounded, and they were also from Seattle. I wonder if there's any influence there?

Hmmm, that' same stretch, holding keyboard pads is pretty universal. What the Boss Martians put on top of their pads is definitely more interesting.

(BTW, the singer/guitarist Shana is a bit older than you pegged her - in an interview she said she's 32. Don't know about the others.)

When I hit 50, everybody under 35 looks like a teenager She is really exotic looking, Persian? Still, I'd love to know her connection to surf music? On purpose? Or just preference?

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There are some references to the surf thing and past work, how the band formed, etc., in the KEXP interview but no real details. The choice of a "surf" sound is deliberate, but what that means to the band is not made clear. I suspect it's the modern non-instrumental concept of surf that has been discussed some on this site, and applies to the vocals, but the KEXP interviewer (DJ Sharlese) didn't have the background in that area to ask the questions that interest us. That would need somebody like Cousin Mary.

I had the same experience with the band in Colorado last year. It was an off night, a Wednesday I think, at a place that doesn't always get good crowds for music, and the place was dead for the other acts (none especially good and very different) but a flash crowd of young people showed up for La Luz. Not people I ever see at instrumental shows.

I'm also guessing that even thought it felt like the show was about a third instrumental it was actually much less so. Two or three instrumental pieces and the rest vocal pieces which sometimes have longer instrumental lead ins or breaks. All short songs of course, and most with vocals, but some not very heavy on vocal content. It creates an appealing atmosphere for an instrumental fan, but, on the other hand, I suspect a vocally oriented crowd doesn't notice the instrumental part!

Honestly it doesn't feel like "surf" music at all, even or maybe especially the instrumental parts, but it is appealing. What Ferenc says about it technically is spot on.

The organ is essentially the rhythm (or supporting sounds) instrument in the group. That's what it shares with the Boss Martians. People are used to organ being a lead or a co-lead or at least to the organist playing figures instead of chords if it's the supporting instrument. It's just a different style. It can be monotonous if there's too much of it. I doubt there's a regional factor.

Ferenc, I think Shana is just partly of East Asian descent. I know what you mean, though. It does result in a Eurasian face that wouldn't look out of place in a book on the medieval history of Central Asia. I get a similar feeling with an Armenian friend. I kept wondering why I was always reminded of books on Byzantine history. Then I remembered that most of the Byzantine royals were of Armenian descent.

We're going to the Bootleg Bar tonight. Hope they bring some merch.
D&J

One of the "pseudo-instrumentals."

Some verbatim interview quotes:

August 26, 2013 KEXP

Shana: Mm, I’m a fan of early rock and roll. I just wanna be Bo Diddley. Surf rock as a moniker seems kinda vague and unpretentious, more like a feeling than a description of sound, and I like that.

Marian: Shana approached me with the idea of a surf band and I was totally down. Surf rock is fun to play, plus it’s cool to switch it up with our doo-wop / girl group songs.

Abbey: It’s been really fun playing surf and rock because despite listening to it for years I’ve never been in a band and played it.

July 30, 2013: CMJ

Shana: As far as the surf rock and the guitar riffs, Link Wray and The Ventures were the two biggest influences. For the doo wap, sort of stuff my main influence there was listening to Mississippi Records compilations. Mississippi Records is this record label out of Portland that puts together these really awesome old soul compilations. Oh, and also Shannon And The Clams.

Alice: I’ve always listened to the classic harmony bands. Vocally I learned how to harmonize by listening to bands like the Beatles.

Abbey: I don’t have that much to do with writing the vocal harmonies, but my bass lines come from listening to a lot of early ’60s stuff. I listen to a lot of Led Zepplin-y and Beatle-y sort of things.

Marian: When Shana was coming up with the idea of a surf rock band I was listening to The Shirelles a lot. I was paying a lot of attention to their drumming. So when Shana asked me “Do you want to play in this band with me?” it was perfect. Dusty Springfield I would say I’ve pulled from on occasion as well. Some of that stuff is freaking amazing.

Oct. 14, 2013 Elle:

Cleveland: I feel like it seems pretty fair to just call us a surf band. I don’t think the term “surf rock” really bothers me because it’s kind of vague. A lot of people think of surf rock as The Beach Boys or Dick Dale. Nobody can say exactly what it is, so it’s nicely ambiguous. Seeing Of Montreal talk about their new album, they’re citing '60s music as an influence, which kind of makes sense [with us].

June 22, 2013: It's Psychedelic Baby

Shana: Some of my personal influences are Sister Rosetta Thorpe, Tina Turner, Ty Segall, Link Wray, Bo Diddley, 60’s Girl Groups and Les Jaguars. Collectively, the two bands that we all really love and sing along to in the van are the Beach Boys, the Growlers and this Mississippi Records comp called Why Did You Make Me Human, which we’ve probably listened to over a hundred times.

Marian: My personal influence is basically everything. I’m usually in tune to rhythms, obviously, so anything that is catchy, original or in the pocket will get me honing on it. For instance, lately I can’t get over how damn smooth the drumming is in Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man”. That ride at the end is perfect.

Abbey: I grew up listening to rock and roll from Led Zeppelin to Buddy Holly and then expanded into jazz and now classical. I’m very interested in exploring harmonies in all brands of music, because they’re used so differently in different genres.

Alice: I’m really drawn to heavy vocal harmonies and also grew up singing along to a lot of older groups doing just that i.e.The Beatles, The Mamas and the Papas but also can’t get enough of bands like The Rolling Stones; just good old rock and roll. It’s pretty fun to put the two together.

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Aaron wrote:

I just did an interview with Shana for my dumb zine. She's definitely the most knowledgeable of the bunch when it comes to instrumental surf. We talked a lot about eleki and other instro nonsense. It's pretty neat.

sounds interesting... got a link to the interview?

From the Bootleg, re the accident, Shana said their Gibson reverb was destroyed and they are using a replacement which is not quite the same as their vintage unit. The only salvageable instrument was Shana's guitar that escaped with a non-structural minor blemish.

Got a bunch of merch including a couple T-shirts, one of which says "LUZER". Count me as a LUZER!