Blips | Under The Radar Acts – La Luz And Saint Rich

In our never-ending quest to dig up great bands whose tickets cost less than a corned beef sandwich at your local deli, we bring you our latest round of Blips here on JamBase. The idea behind Blips is to form a lasting relationship with acts we believe to have bright futures and stick with them as they develop and grow. We view Blips as a progression that begins with a mention in a Blips segment, then leads to a Blips Update, and ultimately culminates in a feature length interview. In this edition, we have some really cool new music, so take a sec, poke around the bands’ various websites and see what you think of these two under-the-radar acts…

La Luz

[Photo by Angel Ceballos]

Website | Facebook

Formed last year in Seattle, the surf rock, doo-wop influenced four-piece La Luz crafts killer guitar driven rock over delightfully rich harmonies. Comprised of primary songwriter and guitarist Shana Cleveland, bassist Abbey Blackwell, drummer Marian Li Pino and keyboardist Alice Sandahl, all four members share vocal duties resulting in exceptional four-part harmony. Having met through playing in various local bands together, including Pica Beats and Curious Mystery, the quartet quickly molded into an original sound as familiar as it is fresh.

Last year La Luz self-released a five-song EP, Damp Face, which they hand-dubbed to cassette for its first pressing. Recorded with Pica Beats’ Johnny Goss in his studio in a trailer park in nearby Bothell, Wash., the EP was subsequently re-released on cassette by Burger Records in 2013. Singles released on Water Wing Records and Suicide Squeeze Records soon followed.

Now the band is gearing up for a national tour beginning next month supporting of Montreal and the release of It’s Alive, their debut full-length, which is slated for an Oct. 15 release on Hardly Art.

Saint Rich

Website | Facebook

Saint Rich is made up of two members of New Jersey’s instrumental experimental rock outfit signed to David Byrne’s Luaka Bop label Delicate Steve. Multi-instrumentalist Steve Marion and guitarist Christian Peslak have been making music together dating back to their high school years. Over the course of a weekend at Marion’s home in Sussex County, New Jersey the duo not only formed the project that would become Saint Rich, but managed to record seven tracks that are included on their debut LP, Beyond The Drone, due out on Merge Records next week.

Both Marion and Peslak handled bass, drums, guitar, keyboards and vocals (Peslak is primarily the lead singer) on the 12 songs that make up the debut album. Unlike with Delicate Steve where Marion crafted melodies over which Peslak shaped rhythms, with Saint Rich it’s Peslak shaping the melodies and Marion providing the bottom end. ‘

Currently on tour across the U.S. with Wild Belle, the decade long partnership between these two musicians is the seed to the alternative rock duo’s success.

Saint Rich -“Officer” from stereogum on Vimeo.

Written By: Andy Kahn