They’re spacey, groovy ‘surf tinged garage pop’, which is rather accurate considering La Luz translates to ‘the light’ in Spanish. Inspired by Buddy Holly, Patsy Cline and all things 50’s and 60’s, you would think the 4 piece girl band met on a Californian beach, with their upbeat instrumentals and melodic vocal harmonies but no, just the opposite!
The girls met and formed in rainy Seattle, Washington in the summer of 2012, while dreaming of the beaches on the other side of the country all while wearing woollen sweaters and raincoats. But don’t be fooled, these girls aren’t all sunshine. Despite their warm, summery vibes, their lyrics are desolate and heavy, defining their genre of music and leading to their self description as a ‘fun but dark band’.
They sound as bright as Buddy Holly, but they’ve had their share of bad times. Following a gnarly car crash at the end of 2013, La Luz are back on the road.
La Luz consists of Shana Cleveland on guitar, Marian Li Pino on drums, Abbey Blackwell on bass and Alice Sandahl on keyboard. Oh, and everyone sings. The girls recorded their first EP Damp Face in a trailer turned rehearsal space in Bothell, Washington with Burger Records. They quickly sold out of their 100 home made cassettes after their first few shows in February 2013.
Since then, the girls have released their first full length record, Its Alive, in October 2013, only releasing 500 copies of their yellow and gold vinyls. Their lead single Big Big Blood has all the reverb’d day dreamy vibes of a summer holiday road trip, while their video clip mixes it up, channeling that of a 60’s horror movie, reflecting their melancholy lyrics and independent attitude.
The end of 2013 sadly saw life imitate art, with some real world horror. The girls were in their van driving back from a gig when they were involved in a severe accident, destroying their gear and their trusty ol’ transportation device. Thankfully, the girls were alright. Following a highly successful, publicly funded campaign to replace what was lost, La Luz were able to pick themselves up and hit the road once again.
After playing at the infamous Austin festival South by Southwest this year, alongside pretty much every influential American talent of today, the girls are set to appear at Sasquatch Festival in May in Washington.
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