Listen to any track from Seattle-based band La Luz and the first thing that’ll hit you is that guitar. That oh-so-sweet and twangy guitar. It’s like molasses being poured slowly down your eardrums. It’s sticky and it’s lick your lips delicious. A true ode to greats such as Link Wray, Duane Eddy and the Northwest’s own The Ventures. Then come their voices. Four parts of ethereal and elegant harmonies that wisp you even further back in time, capturing your attention yet settling you into a dream-like state of existence. Plain and simple, their sound is hauntingly beautiful.
Formed in 2012, La Luz’s members are Shana Cleveland (guitar), Marian Li Pino (drums), Alice Sandahl (keys) and Lena Simon (bass). The four were quick to put out an EP, Damp Face, and even quicker to sell out of their original 100 home-dubbed cassettes at their first few shows. By the end of 2013, they had put together their first full-length album, It’s Alive, and have been touring steadily since. While staying true to their surf rock sound, La Luz still manage to cover a spectrum of sensations deep within each individual track. From the anxious-sounding “Sure As Spring” to the soft and sad vibe of “What Good Am I?,” La Luz have crafted an excellent album that gives new life to familiar territory.
Of all the venues in town, the Doug Fir is undoubtedly the best setting for these up-and-coming gals to showcase their surf pop-drenched style. With its intimate size, lo-fi lighting and rippled backdrop, the evening has all the right ingredients to ride the wave long into the night. Come check them out Friday, January 23.
With their perfectly accompanying sound, Seattle’s Prom Queen will bring their Tarantino-soaked psychedelic surf rock with them to add an extra sugary coating of goodness to the evening. Celene Ramadan (Prom Queen’s singer and founding member) has said she “wanted to capture a fun, ’60s exotica psychedelic vibe” and boy does she with her hour-long concept album Midnight Veil—watch below. It’s a ride through a decade defined by Hanna-Barbera cartoons, muscle cars, extravagantly colorful style, and boundary-pushing cinematic escapades. Sometimes accompanied onstage by her glittered-out drag and burlesque friends, her shows are lively and wildly entertaining—and not to be missed.
Recently relocated back to Portland, Is/Is looks to adjust the atmospheric pressure of the Doug Fir’s basement with their droning pulse of psychedelic music. Melancholic with a bit of fuzz, their self described “wizard rock” looks to take you shoegazers into a deeper realm than your laces have to offer.
