La Luz - Floating Features

Those familiar with Weirdo Shrine will know that La Luz are more than retro-chic surf rock. Although hailing from Seattle (or is that hailing in Seattle?) their sensibilities are midway between the Californian coastline and the border of Mexico, with some of the best four part harmonies you're likely to hear this side of the Shangri-Las.

Floating Features throws further light on the estimable talents of a group that focus keenly on the line that draws articulated guitar lines and luscious harmonies into perfect relief. It's really cool stuff, generating nostalgia for 1960s girl groups, but also implying something more left-field and ever so slightly punk. If Tarantino is as hip as he makes out, he'd be onto these guys faster than tumbleweed crosses desert trails. True it is that tracks like 'The Creature' have a languid flow more in keeping with ruminative thought, but when they kick out on 'Cicada' for instance, they carry all the indie-pop menace necessary for cinematic evocations. Check out the radio performance below, even if your attention span can't reach beyond three minutes, you'll find La Luz laying down some mellifluous harmonies that will keep you spellbound, or at least it did me.

The last album, Weirdo Shrine was a stronger effort. It was a bit spookier and the songs just resonated a bit more. There's nothing wild like 'Black Hole, Weirdo Shrine' which ventured more into party atmosphere of bands like of Los Coronas. Plus, not much of the percussive barbs of 'I Wanna Be Alone'.

Floating Features is a worthy successor to Weirdo Shrine, but doesn't share its snarl.