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ALLAH LAS

Allah-Las

Zuma85

    For the last 15 years, Allah-Las have alchemically melded surf rock washes with folk rock jangle and rock, building up their lauded music podcast, Reverberation Radio, and record label, Calico Discos, in the process - But a lot has changed since Matthew Correia (drums/vocals), Spencer Dunham (bass, guitar, vocals), Miles Michaud (guitar, organ, vocals), and Pedrum Siadatian (guitar, synth, vocals) first bonded over psych rock vinyl in the back room at Amoeba Records in the late ‘aughts.

    Zuma 85 signals the start of a new era for Allah-Las, and finds the band reinventing itself in defiance of the algorithmic categorization and robotic sterility. Recorded in the midst of the shift from the Old World to whatever branch of reality we're on now, it's a return, too: The album will be released October 13th on their own label, Calico Discos, in partnership with Innovative Leisure, which released early defining statements like Allah-Las (2012) and Worship The Sun (2014).

    TRACK LISTING

    The Stuff
    Jelly
    Right On Time
    GB BB
    Hadal Zone
    Fontaine
    Pattern
    Sky Club
    La Rue
    Dust
    Zuma 85
    Smog Cutter
    The Fall

    Allah Las have always been fascinated with both the carefree spirit and glitter-in-the-gutter lifestyle of their hometown LA. After three records mining its lore and lure (from the desert to the sea) and having taken their compact California on the road across the world, they couldn’t help but peek through the other end of the telescope.

    On their fourth LP, drummer Matt Correia, bassist Spencer Dunham, and guitarists Miles Michaud and Pedrum Siadatian turn their collective gaze outward and toward the horizon. "We’ve been travelling a lot the past couple years and I think that played a role in influencing the broader variety of songs on this record” Correia explains. Simply titled LAHS (a reference to a common misspelling of the band’s name), their forthcoming release on Mexican Summer finds a band at the peak of their powers.


    STAFF COMMENTS

    Barry says: The newest Allah Las outing sees the LA quartet absorb and excel at a dizzying range of influences, exploring everything from classic psychedelic rock, hazy Balearic vibes and 12-bar blues to latin percussion, swooning lounge and of course, their trademark swooning indie. It's a triumph of diversity and thematic consistency, and most of all, bloody good fun.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Holding Pattern
    2. Keeping Dry
    3. In The Air
    4. Prazer Em Te Conhecer
    5. Roco Ono
    6. Star
    7. Royal Blues
    8. Electricity
    9. Light Yearly
    10. Polar Onion
    11. On Our Way
    12. Houston
    13. Pleasure 

    Calico Review shows a band that’s grown confident enough in its own style to reflect the perspectives of each member, & craft an album that changes up the approach from song-to-song, while retaining their abilities as a cohesive unit.

    “Strange Heat,” reflects a control & character that burns off of the band’s knack for restraint. Songs like “Famous Phone Figure” cradle character sketches over delicate strains of violin, organ, & Mellotron, Matthew Correia’s drumming carefully underlining a three-note theme that casts a phantom sadness over the proceedings, the group exerting a touch both light & steady enough to bring your mood to theirs.

    “Could Be You” works off a steady percussive gallop, guitarist Miles Michaud waxing reflexively on second chances while the band focuses on forward motion. “Roadside Memorial” applies the Bo Diddley beat to the open road, Pedrum Siadatian stepping up on vocals, & finding new ways to match his talents to propulsive musical ends. Elsewhere, “High & Dry,” features Correia on lead vocals, focusing on their most quintessential & peerless quality: writing emotionally resonant pop, at once direct & detached, casual & knowing, & instantly memorable. The dream factory itself gets called out in the fun, surf-stung number “200 South La Brea,” its carnival-like atmosphere reflecting the excitement & anxiety of those who await their judgment.

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Barry says: With hints of rock and/or roll, 70's pop and modern twee indie, Allah Las are a band that defy at least ten expectations before even getting out of bed. Each one of these pieces has an understated elegance and confidence that we haven't heard from them before. Songs like 'Could Be You' are more driven and rocking while 'Famous Phone Figure' is a Wurlitzer swirled Floydian delight. The changes don't end there, but i'll leave the rest a surprise.

    TRACK LISTING

    1: Strange Heat
    2: Satisfied
    3: Could Be You
    4: High & Dry
    5: Mausoleum
    6: Roadside Memorial
    7: Autumn Dawn
    8: Famous Phone Figure
    9: 200 South La Brea
    10: Warmed Kippers
    11: Terra Ignota
    12: Place In The Sun

    Worship The Sun is an apt title for the second album from the LA-based group Allah-Las, the follow-up to their self-titled 2012 debut.

    When The Distillery, the all-analogue studio in which their eponymous debut album was recorded closed its doors for the final time, Los Angeles’ Allah-Las could easily have forgone their sound and turned to a non-descript location to record their follow up. Yet Worship The Sun is a continuation in the band’s authentic West Coast vibe – staying true to their homegrown dwellings it was laid down in numerous locations across LA.

    “We’ve had great experiences touring; we've been influenced by new environments and we’re always digging for new records, books, art and inspiration but there’s always a bit of anxiety as well,” tells drummer Matthew Correia. “We’ve skirted the law a few times, gotten out of some tight situations and luckily emerged unscathed; touring has given us a real appreciation for time at home.”

    Worship The Sun is exciting and evocative, revealing the maturity of a band no longer starting out but working at the top of their game. If you’ve been waiting for more of that warm hazy sunshine goodness, well brace yourself for warmer climates, the outlook is good and it goes to show that you can take the band out of LA but can’t take LA out of Allah-Las.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. De Vida Voz
    2. Had It All
    3. Artifact
    4. Ferus Gallery
    5. Recurring
    6. Nothing To Hide
    7. Buffalo Nickel
    8. Follow You Down
    9. 501-415
    10. Yemeni Jade
    11. Worship The Sun
    12. Better Than Mine

    CD Bonus Tracks:
    13. No Werewolf
    14. Every Girl

    Allah-Las met while working in an LA record store, but they became a band in an even more rare and special space – a Californian basement, dug out somewhere between the mountains and the beach. They began gigging shortly after their inception in and around Los Angeles in the later part of 2008. It wasn’t until three years later that they would find the proper environment to record their first single ‘Catamaran’ / ‘Long Journey’ which now bookends their upcoming self-titled release.

    These are the kind of songs that bounce between London and Los Angeles, the kind of thing that could have come from Mick Jagger or Arthur Lee or both at once, with crystalline guitar and slo-mo drums that recall the way the waves take big bites of the beach at night.

    This is mystery music from the strange and ancient-modern California fringe.

    Allah-Las are a reflection of a reflection, a band that is psychedelic not because of reverb or shredding through pedals but for their simple way their songs seem to extend to infinity.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Catamaran
    2. Don’t You Forget It
    3. Busman’s Holiday
    4. Sacred Sands
    5. No Voodoo
    6. Sandy
    7. Ela Navega
    8. Tell Me (What’s On Your Mind)
    9. Catalina
    10. Vis à Vis
    11. Seven Point Five
    12. Long Journey


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