L.A. WITCH
Grunge, post-punk trio return with new video shot in the Californian desert & news of a UK tour!
Grunge, post-punk trio return with new video shot in the Californian desert & news of a UK tour!
.After releasing their debut self-titled album earlier this year via Suicide Squeeze Records, Californian trio L.A. Witch are sharing a new video today for the album standout
track "Drive Your Car". The band have also announced a European tour next March including a run of UK dates.
Shot in the Californian desert, the "Drive Your Car" video matches the grunge-soaked, reverb-heavy, post-punk sounds of L.A. Witch wonderfully. Director Allie Lane explains, "With
the "Drive Your Car" video, I wanted to evoke a surreal state of adventure that matches the romantic lulls and highs of a road trip. L.A. Witch's psych rock swells and enigmatic lyrics called
for bleached color tones, mirror mirages and expansive desert landscapes."
In the dimly lit interior of a small nightclub, where the stale smell of a thousand extinguished cigarettes drowns out the smell of spilt beer and broken dreams, a band plays against a backdrop of
cheap golden tinsel. Outside, palm trees line the night’s horizon. In the years to come, the streets will swell into highways and interstates, but for now Los Angeles is still a young city growing
daily with transplants from across the United States, all looking for a new life. It’s still a city largely cut off from the rest of the country, and in the years before the Manson family forever
tarnishes the infinite hope of the Western enclave and before the Hell’s Angels of Altamont interrupt rock n’ roll’s peaceful trajectory with unprecedented violence, there is still a dreamy
California sound for those dark rooms suffused with neon light. The three women of L.A. Witch wouldn’t be born for several decades, but their sound transports you back to those warm
Californian nights in smoky rooms.
The name is a partial misnomer. Though the band hails from Los Angeles, they do not partake in any sort of witchcraft. Yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does
suggest a kind of magic. On their eponymous debut album, L.A. Witch’s reverb-drenched guitar jangle and sultry vocals conjure the analog sound of a collector’s prized 45 from some
short-lived footnote cult band. The melodies forgo the bubblegum pop for a druggy haze that straddles the line between seedy glory and ominous balladry; the production can’t afford Phil Spector’s
wall-of-sound, but the instruments’ simple beauty provides an economic grace that renders studio trickery unnecessary; the lyrics seem more descendent of Johnny Cash’s first-person morality tales
than the vacuous empty gestures of pre-fab pop bands. This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for miscreants, burnouts, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians.
See L.A. Witch live:
TUE MAR 27 - Nottingham UK, The Chameleon
WED MAR 28 - Glasgow UK, Sleazy’s
THU MAR 29 - Newcastle UK, Cluny
FRI MAR 30 - London UK, Oslo
SAT MAR 31 - Leeds UK, Headrow House
Californian trio L.A. Witch are sharing their new single "Drive Your
Car" ahead of their debut self-titled album release on Sept 8th via Suicide Squeeze Records. The band are also set to tour the UK this September with shows in Bristol, Brighton,
London, Glasgow & Liverpool.
In the words of singer Sade Sanchez, "Drive Your Car was written about power and being in control. I borrowed myex boyfriend's Cadillac when he was out of town during one Christmas a few years ago. I drove it recklessly, like a mad man. I drove Vincent Gallo's Tesla through Korea Town one night with him
in passenger seat. I felt liberated and I don't know why. To be behind the wheel of a car, which could be a man's most
prized possession, is a sense of power. There is constant repetition throughout the song to give the sense of driving."
Californian punk trio L.A. Witch are sharing their new single 'Kill My Baby Tonight' from their upcoming debut self-titled album, which is set for release Sept 8th via
Suicide Squeeze Records. The band will be touring the UK this September with shows in London, Brighton, Bristol, Glasgow & Liverpool.
Album opener 'Kill My Baby Tonight' is the perfect introduction to the band’s marriage of ‘60s girls-in-the-garage charm and David Lynch’s surreal exposés of Southern California’s
underbelly. Sade Sanchez’s black velvet vocals disguise the malicious intent of this murder ballad, with the thumping pulse of bassist Irita Pai, the slow-burn build of drummer Ellie English, and
Sanchez’s desert guitar twang helping beguile the listener into becoming a willing accomplice to the narrator’s crimes.
In the dimly lit interior of a small nightclub, where the stale smell of a thousand extinguished cigarettes drowns out the smell of spilt beer and broken dreams, a band plays against a backdrop of
cheap golden tinsel. Outside, palm trees line the night’s horizon. In the years to come, the streets will swell into highways and interstates, but for now Los Angeles is still a young city growing
daily with transplants from across the United States, all looking for a new life. It’s still a city largely cut off from the rest of the country, and in the years before the Manson family forever
tarnishes the infinite hope of the Western enclave and before the Hell’s Angels of Altamont interrupt rock n’ roll’s peaceful trajectory with unprecedented violence, there is still a dreamy
California sound for those dark rooms suffused with neon light. The three women of L.A. Witch wouldn’t be born for several decades, but their sound transports you back to those warm
Californian nights in smoky rooms.
The name is a partial misnomer. Though the band hails from Los Angeles, they do not partake in any sort of witchcraft. Yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does
suggest a kind of magic. On their eponymous debut album, L.A. Witch’s reverb-drenched guitar jangle and sultry vocals conjure the analog sound of a collector’s prized 45 from some
short-lived footnote cult band. The melodies forgo the bubblegum pop for a druggy haze that straddles the line between seedy glory and ominous balladry; the production can’t afford Phil Spector’s
wall-of-sound, but the instruments’ simple beauty provides an economic grace that renders studio trickery unnecessary; the lyrics seem more descendent of Johnny Cash’s first-person morality tales
than the vacuous empty gestures of pre-fab pop bands. This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for miscreants, burnouts, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians.
L.A. Witch was recorded at Hurley Studios in Costa Mesa and mixed in Highland Park, Los Angeles, though early incarnations of several songs from the album originally surfaced on limited edition
singles released over the last several years. The band’s initial aspirations were humble. “We never really thought we would or could release an album,” the band says. “We were really just
finding each other and finding our sound.” But after touring nearly non-stop for the last three years, L.A. Witch developed a singularly seductive, haunting, and wistful sound that enamored the
garage rock, dream pop, psych, and broader indie communities. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to release their debut album on September 8th, 2017. L.A. Witch is available on CD,
digital formats, and 1500 LPs on translucent pink vinyl with a download card.
TOUR DATES
18/9 - The Crofters Right, Bristol UK
19/9 - Acid Box, Brighton UK
20/9 - Moth Club, London UK
21/9 - Mono, Glasgow UK
22/9 - Psych Festival, Liverpool UK
In the dimly lit interior of a small nightclub, where the stale smell of a thousand extinguished cigarettes drowns out the smell of spilt beer and broken dreams, a band plays against a backdrop of
cheap golden tinsel. Outside, palm trees line the night’s horizon. In the years to come, the streets will swell into highways and interstates, but for now Los Angeles is still a young city growing
daily with transplants from across the United States, all looking for a new life. It’s still a city largely cut off from the rest of the country, and in the years before the Manson family forever
tarnishes the infinite hope of the Western enclave and before the Hell’s Angels of Altamont interrupt rock n’ roll’s peaceful trajectory with unprecedented violence, there is still a dreamy
California sound for those dark rooms suffused with neon light. The three women of L.A. Witch wouldn’t be born for several decades, but their sound transports you back to those warm
Californian nights in smoky rooms.
The name is a partial misnomer. Though the band hails from Los Angeles, they do not partake in any sort of witchcraft. Yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does
suggest a kind of magic. On their eponymous debut album, L.A. Witch’s reverb-drenched guitar jangle and sultry vocals conjure the analog sound of a collector’s prized 45 from some
short-lived footnote cult band. The melodies forgo the bubblegum pop for a druggy haze that straddles the line between seedy glory and ominous balladry; the production can’t afford Phil Spector’s
wall-of-sound, but the instruments’ simple beauty provides an economic grace that renders studio trickery unnecessary; the lyrics seem more descendent of Johnny Cash’s first-person morality tales
than the vacuous empty gestures of pre-fab pop bands. This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for miscreants, burnouts, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians.
Album opener 'Kill My Baby Tonight' is the perfect introduction to the band’s marriage of ‘60s girls-in-the-garage charm and David Lynch’s surreal exposés of Southern California’s underbelly.
Sade Sanchez’s black velvet vocals disguise the malicious intent of this murder ballad, with the thumping pulse of bassist Irita Pai, the slow-burn build of drummer Ellie English, and Sanchez’s
desert guitar twang helping beguile the listener into becoming a willing accomplice to the narrator’s crimes. 'Brian' follows the opening track with a similarly graceful, if not
somewhat ominous, slow-mo take on a well-worn jukebox 7”. It’s a vibe that permeates the entire album, from the early psychedelic hue of 13th Floor Elevators on tracks like 'You Love
Nothing', through the motorik beat and fuzzed-out licks of 'Drive Your Car', to the grittier permutation of Mazzy Star’s sleepy beauty on 'Baby In Blue Jeans'.
L.A. Witch was recorded at Hurley Studios in Costa Mesa and mixed in Highland Park, Los Angeles, though early incarnations of several songs from the album originally surfaced on limited edition
singles released over the last several years. The band’s initial aspirations were humble. “We never really thought we would or could release an album,” the band says. “We were really just
finding each other and finding our sound.” But after touring nearly non-stop for the last three years, L.A. Witch developed a singularly seductive, haunting, and wistful sound that enamored the
garage rock, dream pop, psych, and broader indie communities. Suicide Squeeze Records is proud to release their debut album on September 8th, 2017. L.A. Witch is available on CD,
digital formats, and 1500 LPs on translucent pink vinyl with a download card.
L.A. WITCH LIVE IN THE UK
18/9 - The Crofters Right, Bristol UK
19/9 - Acid Box, Brighton UK
20/9 - Moth Club, London UK
21/9 - Mono, Glasgow UK
22/9 - Psych Festival, Liverpool UK
L.A. Witch have signed to Suicide Squeeze Records & are sharing a new slice of their reverb-soaked punk sounds with new single 'Brian'. The band will be headlining a full UK tour in
February.
It’s easy to forget that just a few decades ago, the only viable means for penetrating the golden glamour of Los Angeles was via the dusty trail of Route 66. And just as the arteries of the
interstate latched onto the thumping heart of California, so too came the amplified sounds of a new restless generation. There was acid on the streets and revolution in the air, but there were also
Hell’s Angels in the alleys and Manson’s family on the desert periphery. It was an age of innocence, beauty, and opportunity, with an underbelly of lawlessness and depravity. And it had a
soundtrack.
It’s impossible to listen to L.A. Witch and not hear echoes of that time. The sound of dusty neon and the first dim-lit bars of Sunset ring out with every reverb-drenched note. The
juxtaposition of Hollywood allure and Skid Row desperation throbs in every three-chord riff. And the perilous wager of temptation lies in every sultry vocal melody. Yes, L.A. is the land of sunshine,
but it also harbors a certain kind of dangerous magic. And no one seems to understand that more clearly than the three women of L.A. Witch. Whether they’re conjuring the downtrodden cowpunk of
The Gun Club, the seedy metropolitan balladry of Velvet Underground, or the beefed-up blues of Black Sabbath, L.A. Witchremind us of that exhilarating revelation that a city can elevate you just
as quickly as it can grind you into the dirt.
Given the beguiling nature of their music, it’s hardly surprising that L.A. Witch’s recent Brian 7” on Greenway Records is nearly out-of-print. While their vinyl offerings are all on their
way to becoming collectors items, some solace can be found in knowing that a reworked version of 'Brian' will appear on their debut album later in 2017 courtesy of their new label home
at Suicide Squeeze Records. In the meantime, European audiences should keep an eye out for L.A. Witch on their UK/EU tour in February and March.
See L.A. Witch live:
13th Feb - BE Bruxelles, Le Chaff
14th Feb - UK Manchester, Night and Day
15th Feb - UK Bristol, Crofters Right
16th Feb - UK Glasgow, Broadcast
17th Feb - UK Leeds, Temple of Boom
18th Feb - UK London, The Lexington
19th Feb - UK Brighton, Hope & Ruin
20th Feb - FR Le Havre, Mac Daid's
21st Feb - DE Köln, Sonic Ballroom
22nd Feb - DE Berlin, Kantine am Berghain
23rd Feb - DK Copenhagen, Stengade
24th Feb - SE Gothenburg, Skjulet
25th Feb - SE Malmö, Grand Öl & Mat
26th Feb - DE Hamburg, Hafenklang
27th Feb - DE Frankfurt, TBA
28th Feb - DE Tübingen, Epplehaus
1st Mar - FR Lyon, Le Sonic
2nd Mar - FR Strasbourg, Laiterie
3rd Mar - FR Rennes, Ubu
4th Mar - FR Paris, Paris Psych Fest
5th Mar - CH Vevey, Studio 603
6th Mar - CH St. Gallen, Schwarzer Engel
7th Mar - CH Lugano, Il Casotto
8th Mar - IT Torino, Blah Blah
9th Mar - IT Roma, Monk
10th Mar - IT Firenze, Tender
11th Mar - IT Carpi, Mattatoio