Long before electric scooters filled the streets, Jonny Manak at the Depressives were one of the tried and true staples of downtown San Jose. A homegrown ’77-style punk powerhouse, Manak and Co. have both the energy of the Hives and the California street pedigree of Rancid. And with recent songs like “Cold Pizza and Warm Beer” they’ve definitely still got it. Joining them at the Caravan is the English Language, a stoney group of Bay Area expats, whose recent “High Beams” is a garagey creeper all about urban legends, midnight movies and amplifiers bumping in the night.

Jonny Manak
Thu, 9pm, Free
The Caravan Lounge, San Jose

Kyle Langlois is ecstatic. “We’re at this record-breaking concert thing,” he says, raising his voice to speak over the boisterous discussion going on around him. “We just finished playing. Now we’re taking pictures with a wooden fish.”

He is talking on his cell phone from Chico, where he and the rest of his band, The English Language, just wrapped their set. The “record breaking concert thing” to which he is referring began on April 1, and has been going non-stop ever since at The Tackle Box—a venue in the small NorCal college town. The guitarist for the Portland-based garage-psych trio is clearly excited to have played a role in cementing the new Guinness World Record for longest concert, which was achieved at around 8:40am on the morning of April 17, according to the Chico ABC affiliate. It’s about 5:30pm when he answers his phone.

But Langlois is excited for another reason, as well. He and his band are making a homecoming trip to the city that spawned them. The English Language formed in San Jose in 2012. But despite building a strong local fan base, they decided to pack up and head to Portland in 2014 in search of cheaper housing and a stronger, more supportive scene.

They found it, according to Langlois. “The cost of living is crazy in San Jose,” he says. “We have a cheap house in Portland (complete with a basement rehearsal space and recording studio). Plus, there are more venues and more bands.”

Still, he says, the band is “stoked” to be coming back to San Jose, where they are slated to play their first local show since leaving for Portland, this Friday at The Caravan. “We’re going to get to see all our old friends,” Langlois says.

The group is touring behind their latest album, Happy Horror, a 13-track LP, which toggles between the freaky psych sounds, reminiscent of Thee Oh Sees and By Her Satanic Majesties Request-era Rolling Stones; the bouncy, fuzzed-out blues of The Count Five; and The Beatles—both from the British Invasion days and their more experimental years.

The English Language recorded Happy Horror entirely on their own at their home studio—with the exception of mastering, which they outsourced.

While Langlois says he is excited to see changes in San Jose’s scene—like the opening of The Ritz and Café Stritch—he maintains that The English Language belongs in Portland, even if living in the same house as his band in the same house can be trying at times.

“We couldn’t have done anything we’ve been doing without moving there,” he says.

The English Language plays April 24, 10pm, at The Caravan Lounge.

San Jose’s the English Language are in love the year 1967. It almost goes without saying. Yet it’s an important point to make when discussing their new album, This is Science / Rock & Roll because while their self-titled debut is has more than a couple moves taken from the summer of love playbook, their latest release draws more liberally from 1965 until about 1974, cherry picking musical influences along the way. There’s mid ‘70s power-pop (“Zig Zag Drag”), early ‘70s proto-punk (“What’s Wrong With My Baby’s Blood”), mid ‘60s bouncy-pop (“Happy Loving You”) and late ‘60s psychedelic ballads. (“Gold Of Mine”).

The English Language’s debut, like a lot of the lesser-known Beatles-worshiping late 60s bands, is at times downright ridiculous, both in its tripped-out blow-your-mind psychedelic cabaret instrumentation, and the bizarre bad acid trip imagery lyrics. This is Science / Rock & Roll avoids the more over-the-top moments of their debut, and the restraint works well for the trio. “Gold of Mine” is a gorgeous John Lennon-esque tune. “I’m Tired of This World” has all the makings of a weird novelty nonsensical retro psychedelic jam, but they actually turn it into a serious, and dark, song.

There are still a couple of strange quirky songs, with the kind of oddball humor the Who would put in an obscure B-side. “The Future Ain’t What It Used To Be” is an eerie, peculiar, deliberately-repetitive rock n’ roll song. “Having Wine” is a goofy, theatric song. The album’s title cut, is an early Queen-inspired stadium rock track. But even at their silliest, This is Science / Rock & Roll is a lot more serious than the band’s debut, and it shows off the groups potential a lot better.

The foray into power-pop actually suits the English Language, in part because of the fact that they are just a trio, and sometimes simplicity is just better. The English Language, as much as they are worshipers of old rock have the advantage of being able to look back in time and decide track to track which era of rock ’n’ roll to influence their music. There’s still a lot of late 60s influence here, but the ‘70s influence is a refreshing touch. Maybe next album, they’ll start experimenting with late ‘70s punk rock movement.

The English Language release their second album This is Science / Rock & Roll on Saturday, February 1st at the Blank Club. Tickets are $8. Doors open at 8pm.