The Soft White Sixties unveil their latest single ‘The Overpass’ and announce their new bilingual LP, Alta California, due for release August 10th on CHAR+COAL.
‘The Overpass’ is a heavy dose of 1970s glam-funk, reminiscent of a time when artists like David Bowie, Rod Stewart and Funkadelic were blurring the lines between rock ‘n’ roll and RnB. Singer Octavio Genera leads a call-to-action chorus of “Let’s get weird / let’s get high”, propelled by a sleazy bass line and rock-solid groove. The Overpass itself is one of Los Angeles’s most notorious after hours clubs with a location that constantly changes. It’s the kind of you-gotta-know-somebody-who-knows-somebody speakeasy where eccentrics are assembled here from all across the city…taking all the drugs / drinking all the wine / crossing over every line.
Genera elaborates, “it's a place that feels like time stops and no one ever gets tired. When you don't want to go home, you find a place where no one else does either.”
Over the course of several sessions that began on Election Night 2016, Alta California was written and recorded at New Monkey Studio, a room formerly owned by Elliott Smith. Produced by Elijah Thomson (Father John Misty, Delta Spirit, Richard Swift), Alta California finds the Los Angeles band expanding upon their contemporary concoction of rock ‘n’ roll and soul while also exploring some of their most relevant lyrical content to date (in English and Spanish).
Genera — a first generation Mexican-American who grew up in a bilingual Spanish/English family – always wondered what it would be like to sing in Spanish, it just didn’t occur to him to try it professionally, and he wasn’t sure there was space for it within the band. “Speaking and singing in a language are two different things,” says Genera. “There was a feeling of joy and passion when I sang these songs in Spanish that I wasn’t expecting. And then hearing the songs back — it was right.”
The sweaty, gyrating energy of their live show has garnered praise from Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and LA Weekly over the years and landed them on club and festival bills like Outside Lands, BottleRock, and SXSW, sharing the stage with the likes of The Hives, Rival Sons, The Flaming Lips, and Paul McCartney. But this time around, it all glimmers with a subtle lysergic sheen, thanks in part to Thomson’s influence. “Eli was a big proponent of making the studio feel like 2am on a Saturday night at all hours of the day,” multi-instrumentalist Aaron Eisenberg explains. “Certain songs called for certain states of mind and sobriety generally didn’t factor into the equation.”
The band felt it would be irresponsible to develop lyrical content that ignored the inescapable global climate developing literally while the tape was rolling. New territory was explored, as observations on the despair of the American Dream ('Reaganomixxx'), immigration ('Brick by Brick'), gentrification ('I Still Love You, San Francisco'), paradigm shifts ('Teen Wolves'), generational and ideological gaps and what happens when one generation begins to the feel the inevitable changing of the guard crept its way onto the record.
Packed with deep, thunderous grooves from the rhythm section of Joey Bustos and Ryan Noble, squealing fuzz guitars and roaring analog synths courtesy of multi-instrumentalists Aaron Eisenberg and Rob Fidel, and the signature soulful rasp of lead vocalist Octavio Genera, Alta California is an honest snapshot of a modern rock band in their prime.
The Soft White Sixties will embark upon a west coast tour this fall in celebration of Alta California.
ALTA CALIFORNIA
1. Teen Wolves
2. The Overpass
3. I Still Love You, San Francisco
4. Brick by Brick
5. The Candy Store
6. No 1 Like U BB
7. Number One
8. Reaganomixxx
9. Until The World Stops Spinning
Don’t Miss The Soft White Sixties on Tour
8/4 - Huntington Beach, CA - US Open of Surfing – main stage
8/11 - Los Angeles, CA - Bootleg Theater / Album release show
9/14 - Phoenix, AX - Crescent Ballroom
9/15 - Costa Mesa, CA - The Wayfarer
9/16 - San Luis Obispo, CA - SLO Brew
9/18 – Fresno, CA - Fulton 55
9/19 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe's Alley
9/20 - Sacramento, CA - TBA
9/21 - Reno, NV - Loving Cup
9/22 - Boise, ID - Neurolux
9/24 - Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
9/25 - Bend, OR - Volcanic Theater
9/26 - Portland, OR - Star Theater
9/28 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
