California Music

I've been staying in Los Angeles for the past week, and I thought it'd be a good idea to post a California themed folk-post. Our first night in town, my boyfriend and I were able to get out to Pomona and catch She & Him at the Glasshouse just before they went off to Coachella. Their new stuff is just as sugar-sweet as the first album, but I think it's actually a little more fearless and really embraces the 70's AM gold kind of sound they seemed to be experimenting with on their first record. "Thieves" is a really country-fuzzy pop tune, definitely one of the best off the new album. M. Ward, as usual, kills it with this twangy round guitar sound and harmonizes well with Zooey Deschanel. Dig it, especially the Hollywood-Romance ending. This music is like ice cream to me.


The Chapin Sisters opened for She and Him, and are definitely worth checking out. I think they sort of border on cheesy (in a less intentional way than She and Him does) but it's easy to see past it, especially after watching them live. Their powerful folk harmonies and Laurel Canyon gypsy stage presence make them hard to ignore.


I also have been unable to stop listening to The Living Sisters. I picked up their album for about $5 at the ridiculously cool/famous Amoeba Music in Hollywood. The band is made up of three front women of already super west-coast indie bands: Inara George from the Bird and the Bee, Eleni Mandell, and Rebecca Stark from Lavender Diamond. They come together and master heartbreaking love songs with really classic three-part harmonies, like The Andrews Sisters of the 1940's. They're just so good. This is a good live studio session of the song "Blue."

The Living Sisters - Blue - Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

Tomorrow, I bid California farewell, but I feel good taking this music back with me to New York.