Supporting your local bars is something dear to my heart, and supporting those local bars that host some of the best up coming names in music?
That, my friend, hits home. Soda Bar, El Cajon Blvd, Wednesday night. This place maximum capacity is easily around 75 people, but when you have La Luz, Cool Ghouls, and Teenage Burrito playing who cares about fire hazards? I was even lucky enough to get to sit down and chat with the guys of Cool Ghouls and ask a few questions before they took the stage.
I walked into the nearly empty bar around 8:30pm and texted Pat Thomas (bass player & vocals) to round up the guys and get this interview started. We decided the most comfortable spot would be there second home, aka The Van. Piling in and getting comfortable, I was introduced to everyone; Pat Mcdonald (rhythm guitar), Alex Fledgeman (drums), & Ryan Wong (guitar) Knowing these guys were from San Francisco, I had to ask, “Do you guys hate it when people say ‘The Bay’ & ‘Frisco’ ?” Their response? “‘The Bay’ is cool! ‘Frisco’ you just can’t say if you’re white. Just don’t ever say ‘San Fran’ either”. With that ice broken and the air clear, I got to the good stuff. Pat, Pat and Ryan all grew up together and everyone in the band expect for Pat (Thomas) went to SFU.
The genre they put themselves under is “straight up no bullshit pure Rock N Roll”. Not really minding what category you put them under as long as you understand they don’t think of it in little genre terms when they are making their music. Always being serious from the get-go about their music, La Luz’s booking agency hit them up asking if they wanted to do a West Coast tour with girls. Later this year you can catch Cool Ghouls touring with Shannon and The Clams. I loved everyone minute of their set. With their rock ‘n’ roll vibes meeting lots of 60’s psychedelic sounds the crowd was digggggin’ them. I even met a girl who wanted to take her top off for them. Congrats guys, you’re in the big leagues now.
Teenage Burrito is a local band out of San Diego. My first time ever hearing of them I enjoyed what I heard. They fall under the “summer music” genre, reminding me a lot of Best Coast. The mic’s weren’t giving off good sound at all for this band, but there was a point in their set where it just didn’t even matter anymore. The whole sound in general was very welcoming and the girl on the drums was killing it! Round of applause to you, my little California Burritos.
La Luz consists of four very talented ladies. Shana Cleveland on guitar, Alice Sandahl on keys, Abbey Blackwell on bass, and Marian Li-Pino on drums, with all four sharing vocals. Produced by Ty Segall, La Luz released their latest album Weirdo Shine this year and are currently taking on the West Coast. From sending Alice crowd surfing around the bar, to Abbey doing a perfect trust fall into the crowd, there was never a dull moment. The sound of La Luz can easily be described as doo-wop, simple forceful garage music. Thank you, La Luz, for always putting America’s Finest City on your to-do list. Until next time!
La Luz