La Luz Are Alive

With their latest album, It's Alive, Seattle's La Luz have cemented Link Wray's legacy as one of the most important guitarists ever. The simple fact is that without him, La Luz would not exist. Featuring riff upon riff of awesome garagey surf rock the album sound as if it was recorded using Wray's guitars, in Wray's studio, using leftover Wray riffs. The album is overflowing with twangy and jangly melodic tunes that sound as if Wray silently lent a hand on each one. It's magnificent stuff that reminds me of La Sera records lost in a sweater box underneath her bed or an old album found in a rotting VW Vanagong used during the filming of Endless Summer.

With organs, those guitars, multi-part harmonies, rawness and purity It's Alive is an honest to goodness rock and roll record steeped in history and tradition. The whole thing and especially those twangy surf rocking guitars, with gorgeous melodies and sparkly riffs, is simply amazing. It's Alive is a fantastic record that's about love, heartbreak, and simply being different; it's nothing complicated and doesn't need to be for you to fall in love with it. It's all a bit quirky and a bit retrotastic but it's a treat to just sit and lose yourself in.

As summer turns into fall, La Luz reminds us of the joys of the sun and sand, summer romances, and days lost to doing nothing in particular. It's Alive is an awesome record that's in love with the past but retroactively looking forward to the future. With harmonies that seem like they're from a dream, songs that are uncomplicated and catchy, and a sound that reeks of classicism what's there not to like? La Luz truly are alive and It's Alive proves it.