Californian trio L.A. Witch are bringing their grunge-soaked post-punk sounds back to the UK this June as parts of a colossal European tour with shows in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester & Oxford. The band’s debut self-titled album is out now via Suicide Squeeze Records.
The name is a partial misnomer. Though the band hails from Los Angeles, they do not partake in any sort of witchcraft. Yet their ability to conjure a specific time and place through their sound does suggest a kind of magic. On their eponymous debut album, L.A. Witch’s reverb-drenched guitar jangle and sultry vocals conjure the analogue sound of a collector’s prized 45 from some short-lived footnote cult band. The melodies forgo the bubblegum pop for a druggy haze that straddles the line between seedy glory and ominous balladry; the production can’t afford Phil Spector’s wall-of-sound, but the instruments’ simple beauty provides an economic grace that renders studio trickery unnecessary; the lyrics seem more descendent of Johnny Cash’s first-person morality tales than the vacuous empty gestures of pre-fab pop bands. This isn’t music for the masses; it’s music for miscreants, burnouts, down-and-out dreamers, and obsessive historians.
See L.A. Witch live:
2/6/2018 – Saint Petersburg, Mod Club RU
6/6/2018 – Roma, Wishlist IT
8/6/2018 – Riegsee, Raut Oak Festival DE
9/6/2018 – Munich, Milla DE
11/6/2018 – Wien, Arena AT
12/6/2018 – Prague, Kasarna Karlin CZ
13/6/2018 – Dresden, Ostpol DE
14/6/2018 – Budapest, A38 Ship HU
15/6/2018 – Kladovo, Border Rock Festival SB
16/6/2018 – Beograd, Boogaloo Festival SB
19/6/2018 – Ravenna, Hana-Bi IT
21/6/2018 – Bordeaux, Astrødome FR
22/6/2018 – Lille, La Cave Aux Poètes FR
23/6/2018 – London, Styx UK
25/6/2018 – Bristol, Old England UK
26/6/2018 – Birmingham, Castle & Falcon UK
27/6/2018 – Manchester, Soup Kitchen UK
28/6/2018 – Oxford, The Cellar UK
29/6/2018 – Lisbon, Sabotage PT
30/6/2018 – Mallorca, Festival (Jazzbah) ES
15/11/2018 – Brussels, AB BE *
16/11/2018 – Amsterdam, Parasidso Noord NL*
17/11/2018 – Hamburg, Knust DE *
19/11/2018 – Gothenburg, Pustervik SE*
20/11/2018 – Oslo, Rockerfeller NO*
21/11/2018 – Stockholm, Nalen SE*
23/11/2018 – Helsinki, Tavastia FI*
25/11/2018 – Copenhagen, Grå Hal DK*
26/11/2018 – Berlin, SO36 DE*
27/11/2018 – Warsaw, Hybrydy PL*
28/11/2018 – Dresden, Beatpol DE*
29/11/2018 – Vienna, Arena AT*
1/12/2018 – Munich, Strøm DE*
2/12/2018 – Milan, Legend IT*
3/12/2018 – Villeurbanne, Transbordeur FR*
4/12/2018 – Zürich, Dynamo CH*
6/12/2018 – Karlsruje, Substage DE*
7/12/2018 – Osnabrück, Rosenhof DE*
8/12/2018 – Köln, Luxor DE*
9/12/2018 – Paris, La Maroquinerie FR*
* – supporting Uncle Acid + The Deadbeats
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