It's Alive
This female quartet from Seattle have concocted a perfect brew of Mazzy Star–meets–surf music on their full-length debut, *It’s Alive*. A few songs appeared earlier in 2013 on their *Damp Face* EP: “Sure as Spring,” a high-energy, haunting tune with reverb-marinated guitars imparting a melancholic air, and the ‘50s-style doo-wop track “Call Me in the Day.” Others, like the Duane Eddy–inflected “All the Time” and the warm, keyboard-driven “Morning High,” make their debut here, as do the cinematic “Big Big Blood” and the frothy-yet-chilling “Pink Slime.” Vintage keyboards lend La Luz a certain noir-ish intrigue, which makes beautiful bedfellows with their lilting vocals (all the members sing) and echoing, moody guitars. “You Can Never Know” has an oozing charm that feels like a slowed-down Cramps number, churning with feminine mystique. Instrumentals like “Sunstroke” and “Phantom Feelings” unfurl with an impressive bit of fret and key work. The best part about La Luz (their name means “the light”) is that these women are young and just getting started.
In Spanish, La Luz means “light” and that’s the perfect thing to evoke when your songs give the illusion of veering in the opposite direction. But lift out most any lyric—which is a good excuse to give a closer listen to the delicate, four-part harmonies that are fast becoming the band’s signature—and you’ll find that the aches and pains of love and loss, of living in a world where no foothold is ever a promise—all this is delivered with a nuanced dose of perfectly timed exhilaration, like the whole thing might just be worth it in the end. It's Alive is the debut LP from Seattle's La Luz.
Sixties revivalists unveil a record that excels when they commit to the way the songs of that era worked, rather than settling for the aura.
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