La Luz – “Black Hole, Weirdo Shrine”

Oh August… the sun is merciless, the nights enticing, and the diffuse melancholy of another summer passing (“NO, DON’T SAY THAT!”) wraps itself around all the fun you can wring out of the weeks before September. Sounds like perfect weather for La Luz, a Seattle quartet who mines a tasty vein of surf rock with girl-group harmonies. Their new single “Black Hole, Weirdo Shrine” is testimony to how much thoughtfulness they put into this so-called genre music. There’s no twangy solo, thundering drum fills, or references to the waves to distract from the purity of vision here. To be honest, “surf rock” is really a red herring on this track. Out of a lively backbeat, 60s organ tones, and ambient reverb, La Luz have wrought a minimalist indie-rock twang that brings to mind the earliest Pixies (think “Caribou”) or the most recent line-up of Chain and the Gang.

La Luz reaches for the garage-rock brass ring on their new album, Weirdo Shrine, produced and engineered by none other than young legend Ty Segall. Frontwoman Shana Cleveland is a fearsome shredder, as you hear on tracks like “You Disappear.” The band has just begun a world tour to last well through the Indian summer. Meanwhile, there’s only three more weeks of August in which to make Weirdo Shrine your daily soundtrack, so hop to it.

Weirdo Shrine is out now on Hardly Art.

LA LUZ ON TOUR:

08.11.15 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo

08.12.14 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar

08.13.15 – Phoenix, AZ – Valley Bar

08.14.15 – El Paso, TX – The Lowbrow Palace

08.15.15 – Austin, TX – Mohawk Inside

08.16.15 – New Orleans, LA – Siberia

08.17.15 – Tallahassee, FL – The Liberty Bar

08.18.15 – Miami, FL – Gramps Bar

08.19.15 – Jacksonville, FL – Burro Bar

08.20.15 – Athens, GA – Caledonia Lounge

08.21.15 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl

08.22.15 – Nashville, TN – The Stone Fox

08.23.15 – Asheville, NC – Ben’s Tune Up

08.24.15 – Raleigh, NC – Kings Barcade

08.26.15 – Philadelphia, PA – Black Box in Underground Arts

08.27.15 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Upstairs

08.29.15 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

08.31.15 – Montreal, QC – Bar Le Ritz P.D.B.

09.01.15- Toronto, ON – Adelaide Hall

09.02.15 – Cleveland, OH – Euclid Tavern

09.03.15 – Detroit, MI – UFO Factory

09.04.15 – Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme

09.05.15 – Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle

09.06.15 – Milwaukee, WI – Cactus Club

09.07.15 – Minneapolis, MN – The Entry

09.08.15 – Omaha, NE – O’leavers

09.09.15 – Engelwood, CO – Moe’s Original

09.10.15 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge

09.11.15 – Boise, ID – Neurolux

09.18.15 – Tilburg, NL – Incubate Fesival

09.19.15 – Leffinge, BE – Leffingeleuren Festival

09.20.15 – Haldern, DE – Haldern Pop Bar

09.21.15 – Hamburg, DE – Aalhaus

09.22.15 – Lund, SE – Mejeriet

09.23.15 – Stockholm, SE – Geronimos FGT

09.24.15 – Oslo, NO – Cafe Mono

09.25.15 – Copenhagen, DK – Stengade

09.26.15 – Berlin, DE – Berlin Independent Night

09.28.15 – Prague, CZ – Klub 007

09.29.15 – Vienna, AT – Rhiz

09.30.15 – Schorndorf, DE – Manufaktur

10.01.15 – Freiburg, DE – Swamp

10.02.15 – Brescia, IT – Lio Bar

10.03.15 – Bologna, IT – Covo Club

10.05.15 – Zuerich, CH – Bogen F

10.07.15 – Lyon, FR – Marché Gare

10.08.15 – Montpellier, FR – Les Internationales de la Guitares

10.09.15 – Barcelona, ES – La [2] De Nitsa

10.10.15 – Madrid, ES – Villamanuela Festival

10.11.15 – Lisbon, PT – Casa Independente

10.13.15 – Bilbao, ES – Kafe Antzokia

10.14.15 – Bordeaux, FR – Iboat

10.15.15 – Paris, FR – Batofar

10.16.15 – Brighton, UK – Bleach

10.17.15 – Manchester, UK – The Eagle Inn

10.19.15 – Glasgow, UK – The Hug & Pint

10.20.15 – Leeds, UK – Brudenell Social Club

10.21.15 – Cardiff, UK – Moon Club

10.22.15 – London, UK – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen

10.23.15 – Brussels, BE – Madame Moustache

10.24.15 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso