Los Angeles surf rockers La Luz bring their reverb-drenched sound to San Jose for a night of California worship, as they show off what goes into their self-proclaimed surf noir sound. Their mix of plucky guitarwork, sweeping vocal harmonies and overall fuzziness has been known to inspire both crowd surfing and soul-train style dance contests, so be ready for anything. The group will likely play songs from their Ty Segall-assisted sophomore album, Weirdo Shrine, from 2015. They share the bill with Mumlers frontman Will Sprott and San Francisco art rock outfit Li Xi.

La Luz
Fri, 8pm, $15
The Ritz, San Jose

On a night drive in 2013, Seattle-based surf-rock group La Luz was driving home from a show when their van spun out on some black ice. The van smashed into a divider on the highway. They were safe but rattled. After calling AAA, the four-piece were sitting in the van awaiting a tow when a semi spun out on the same patch of ice and smashed into their waiting vehicle.

There’s a photo of the mangled van on the band’s Tumblr page. It’s a testament to the lengths touring musicians go to live the life that calls to them—risking life and limb for something that many dismiss as a pastime of youth. Music is serious business.

After surviving the crash, La Luz recorded with famed San Francisco psych-rocker Ty Segall. The resulting record, Weirdo Shrine, is a collection steeped in creeping darkness—think Ventures-by-way-of-Sleater-Kinney. The logic of trauma works through echoes, repeating itself over time in often strange and unexpected rumblings. On many of the tracks, death can be heard, just hanging in the background, nodding along and waiting for the right moment to enter the frame. Even the album’s cover, a psyched-out image of a cat’s cradle against a black background, seems to evoke the fragility and transience of life. “No damn cat, no damn cradle,” says Newt.

La Luz embrace the whole ’60s surf and psych vibe quite openly on Weirdo Shrine. The music video for “You Disappear” features the group playing on a fake French program (the “Ethnic Cultural Hour”) evoking both the ’60s Yeh-Yeh girl movement, with their patterned pants and blouses, and ’80s VHS experimentation. Analog film duplicates of the girls spin into infinity as green-screened psychedelic shapes twirl behind them. The whole thing feels a bit like a collaboration between Francoise Hardy and Robert Ashley, or New York’s gonzo public access programs like TV Party.

La Luz are one of many signees to Sub Pop’s subsidiary label, Hardly Art, which has been making a case for itself as the next Kill Rock Stars, ever since the onetime label of Elliott Smith moved primarily into releasing comedy albums. With bands like Shannon and the Clams, Chastity Belt, Colleen Green, and the Julie Ruin (Kathleen Hanna’s current group), the label has been on a run of strong releases, and Weirdo Shrine is no exception. Segall’s decidedly lo-fi production style gives the album a sense of coming from some alternate past, one where the ’60s happened not in lush technicolor, but in the stark and murderous black and white of Fritz Lang’s M.

The group’s upcoming tour includes a stop at The Ritz. Joining the band is one of San Jose’s proudest indie rock sons—Will Sprott, formerly front man for local weirdo pop group the Mumlers. After spending some time in the East Bay, Sprott relocated to the comparatively cheaper Seattle a few years back, where he linked up with the girls in La Luz for a number of creative collaborations.

Sprott’s appearance at the Ritz marks one of the first times the musician has come back to his hometown for a show since embarking on a solo career. The Mumlers were one of the few bands from San Jose in recent years to garner a serious buzz and command a hefty fan base.

Since moving out of the Bay Area, the singer and songwriter released his first solo record, last year’s Vortex Numbers, which found Sprott combining elements of surf rock and country crooning with his earnest and conversational lyrical style. And if the cover art looks reminiscent of La Luz’s Damp Face EP (recently re-released by Hardly Art) there’s a reason for that: it was designed by their singer and primary songwriter, Shana Cleveland.

La Luz
Aug 13, 8pm, $12-$15
The Ritz, San Jose

By his own admission, Will Sprott has been doing “some strange things for money” these days.

After spending five years in Oakland, the San Jose-born singer, songwriter and former leader of The Mumlers is now living in Seattle. He moved there about a year ago, without any idea of where he would live or work.

He’s been able to pick up odd jobs—as a tour manager for Seattle band La Luz and for a bike delivery service. One of the oddest occupations of late came in the form of a contract position for a Boeing subcontractor. Off and on for about six months, the 33-year-old Sprott, would show up at 4 a.m. in the morning, sit in a chair and tally the number of people who jaywalked across a given street, drawing an accompanying diagram of the route they took. He says his employer used the information he gathered to figure out where to place crosswalks.

As Sprott discusses his various and sundry gigs, he chuckles and through his languid drawl it’s clear that he isn’t worried about finding ways to make rent. He seems confident that everything will work out, and in many ways things already have. As an artist, the struggle to stay afloat has proven inspirational, he says.

“I think a lot of the songs are about that very thing—about not making everything super easy for yourself,” he says, referring to his brand new album, Vortex Numbers, which came out this week. “I like making things difficult for myself. For now, at least, I’m glad to be taking in a wider world.”

It shows. The songwriter’s travels away from his hometown of San Jose have resulted in some of the best music he’s ever written. On the 10-track Vortex Numbers—which finds Sprott meditating on the end of a relationship, the soul-crushing and soulless nature of the rat race, and the challenges of being a strange person in a strange land—Sprott boils down all the best of what he did on previous Mumlers releases, producing a compact album that nonetheless plumbs the depths of the human experience with his clever and vivid lyrical constructions.

“You might not see my face anymore,” he sings to an unnamed former lover on “Under My Eyes.” “I might not hold you in my arms like I did before. Please don’t think I’m leaving you behind. I’ll carry everything in the bags under my eyes.” The song moves forward over a dusty, shuffling beat, a warm guitar line and shaky harmonies, which recall the loose and rambling chemistry of Jagger and Richards.

He creates a spooky atmosphere on “Psychic Lady,” a song with a propulsive beat, which recalls “Coffin Factory” from the 2009 Mumlers release, Don’t Throw Me Away. The song describes the various roles people play in society, from scientists to wrestlers to the titular psychic lady.

“Everybody’s got a job,” he sings. “I’m going to do my job. When you are through, you will be paid, don’t forget you will be paid. You will be given what you have earned. You will take home what you deserve.”

It’s the kind of observation that would be banal in almost any other context, but in the hands of Sprott it turns into something infinitely more profound.

If Vortex Numbers feels at all like previous Mumlers records it’s due mostly to Sprott’s unique lyrical style and preference in chord progressions. The arrangements themselves are far more stark than anything he’s done in the past.

“I think this album is a little bit more stripped down,” Sprott notes, a fact that may have more to do with the fact that he’s going it alone this time, than any deliberate decision. The Mumlers was a six-piece band that took “a really maximalist approach” to recording, he observes. For the new record, he says that he didn’t consciously try to pair anything back.

“I was just making songs,” he says with a shrug.

And he plans to continue making songs and sharing it with his fans, including the hometown crowd—hopefully. A tour is in the works with La Luz, and while there is no San Jose date planned just yet, he aims to book one. Just like everything in Sprott’s life, he seems quietly confident that he’ll find his way, one way or another.

Check out Sprott’s “A Dog Will Love You When Nobody Else Will”

And take it back to 2009 with “Coffin Factory” by The Mumlers:

Will Sprott, a solo artist and member of the Mumlers, shares his favorite songs from 2012, a mix of retro soul, modern R&B and songs from his comrades in the Bay Area music scene.

Bobby Womack – “Please Forgive My Heart”
This one gets me every time. “Please forgive my heart. It’s not that the problem lies anywhere in there. I’m a liar. I’m in a dream. Going my way. Nothing to rely on.”

 
Plantain – “Talk Like a Mouse”
I played music with two of the guys in this band from San Jose for several years, JF Holmes & Andy Paul. This is my favorite song from their album that came out in July. I like how languorous it is.

 
R. Kelly – “When a Man Lies”
I saw R. Kelly play on Halloween night. He played over 40 songs & completely destroyed it. This song felt like a classic the first time I heard it. He’s just telling the truth.

 
Ugly Winner – “Secret Song”
For most of the time I played music in San Jose, the bass player of this band, Todd Flanagan, pretty much single-handedly created a underground clubhouse that fed local music by opening his house for bands from around the world to play in. In the context of Ugly Winner’s new record, which is a a pretty aggressive guitar record, this song feels like a similar hidden fort.

 
Family Room – “Us, Free”
Plantain, Ugly Winner and Family Room all put out records within a couple weeks of each other over the summer. Plantain and Ugly Winner played release shows to celebrate but Family Room just slapped this album up on the internet and receded back into the woodwork, mostly because the singer Evan Jewett, has moved away to New York. It’s a good record, though, and this is a good song.

 
Upside Drown – “Castles”
Upside Drown is a two-lady operation based in Oakland comprised of Colleen Johnson and Rosie Steffy. On this song they are joined by Matt Montgomery on bass and saxophone. Over the last couple years, I’ve played more music with these three than I have with anyone. They are all extraordinary talents and this is my favorite song of theirs. I don’t think I’ve ever heard another song like it. It’s alien & beautiful.

 
The Fresh & Onlys – “Long Slow Dance”
This title track from San Francisco band the Fresh & Onlys new album. I enjoyed the whole record.

 
The Dodos – “Companions”
This one came out in 2011, but nobody asked me to make a list last year. I did a tour with this band from San Francisco and this was my favorite song to hear every night. It still sounds good.

After a summer schedule full of interesting bookings, Naglee Park Garage will host two more concerts before ending its live music season for the year. Doctor Nurse brings atmospheric indie rock on October 17 and the Golden State Ramblers close the season October 24 with folk, Irish and novelty tunes from the 20s-40s.

The shows are always free at Naglee Park Garage and are held every Wednesday during the extended summer season outside on the patio. The lineup this year included young indie-rock acts (Curious Quail, Orangutang), alt-folk artists (The Wild Reeds, Will Sprott), roots-rock groups (Careless Hearts) and reggae-world beat fusions (Los Hot Boxers, The Champions, inc).

According to owner Chris Esparza, the weekly Wednesday shows were consistently successful. People enjoyed the combination of good live music and outdoor dining. He plans to have live music return in 2013 every Wednesday, most likely beginning in May.

Doctor Nurse play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday October 17th at 7pm. The Golden State Ramblers play Naglee Park Garage on Wednesday on October 24th. Both shows are free.

For a city that struggles year in and year out to foster a vibrant local music scene, the SVSX festival—which featured over 20 bands in 9 venues—was a success. Mike Huguenor, who opened the Pagoda Lounge lineup, took a moment during his set to comment on what an incredible event SVSX was turning out to be.

“I’ve lived most of my life in San Jose, and until very recently it seemed absolutely impossible for art to get any kind of foothold in this sprawling, vastly economically imbalanced city,” he said. “A festival like this seemed unthinkable until very recently, and I’m extremely happy to be a part of it.”

His band, which included Bob Vielma (Shinobu) on bass and Hank Richardson (Yulia) on drums, gave his solo material a driving rock edge. Yet, unlike Huguenor’s work with Shinobu and Hard Girls, these songs were notably mellower, while still holding true to his trademark blend of thoughtful lyrics and offbeat chord arrangements.

PHOTOS: 10 Photo Highlights of SVSX

The largely college-aged crowd slowly trickled in as Huguenor played. By the time Fierce Creatures went on, the Pagoda boasted a nice amount of attendees, all ready as Fierce Creatures soared through several of their lush, indie-rock, soul-inspired tunes.

The hip hop lineup at the Blank Club showed a diverse cross-section of rap styles. Antwon and Memphis rapper Cities Aviv were major highlights. Cities Aviv is gaining some buzz music blogs all over the web right now with his fresh, unusual interpretation of rap. As innovative as his album Digital Low is, live, he was on a whole other level of strange. He mixed atonal music, bizarre electronics and outer-space beats with rapping that was heavily processed and mixed at a volume barely above the music, which made for a surreal experience that fell somewhere between neurotic, spastic hip hop and avant-garde performance art.

Antwon took the stage afterword. His music and performance, while not as out-there as Cities Aviv’s, is totally distinct from anything happening in hip hop right now. He’s falls somewhere between nerd rap, stoner rap and hipster rap, yet not fitting into any of these already conceived models. The audience couldn’t decide if they were with him or not. Despite being local, he rarely gigs in San Jose, yet he’s developed an impressive following in the East Bay, San Francisco and all over the Internet (he has +120,000 views for his “Helicopter” video on YouTube).

Dirtbag Dan at The Blank Club // Photo by Alex Stover

Local favorite Dirtbag Dan, who was accompanied by Skylar G and DJ Ichy the Killer, put on one of his best, hard-hitting shows to date to an enthusiastic audience. It wasn’t long ago that Dan toiled in obscurity locally—even while being one of the biggest names in battle rap all over the world. Headlining the SVSX festival to a packed house was a monumental moment for Dan.

Before his actual set, Dan had DJ Ichy the Killer perform a solo DJ routine—the same routine that got him into the DMC online DJ competition finals. He flawlessly mixed different genres, popular songs and obscure beats, using crazy spinning tricks and strange rhythms into six mind-blowing minutes.

With nine venues total it was hard to see everything that was happening, yet there was more than enough people to go around. Johnny V’s was packed, so was San Pedro Square Market and Mezcal restaurant. The other venues did well, too, and the pub crawl element of the SVSX festival was a nice touch. Walking from venue to venue and seeing so many people enjoying good local music—rap, punk, reggae, indie rock, folk—was a nice feeling.

Straying from it’s usual beat-orientate lineup, The Pagoda Lounge at The Fairmont Hotel presents a full rock-centered lineup for SVSX featuring Will Sprout (Mumlers), Fierce Creatures and Mike Huguenor (Shinobu) followed by an after-party DJ set by B.Lewis.

Will Sprott
11:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
South Bay fans may wonder where Will Sprott of the Mumlers has been. The singer/songwriter known for sparking the South Bay’s wave of freak-rock a few years ago hasn’t been nearly as ubiquitous here since he moved to the East Bay. But he’s been perhaps busier than ever. It’s been a couple of years now since the Mumlers’ second album, Don’t Throw Me Away. If the folky debut was surprising and offbeat enough to get Sprott national media attention, the follow-up surpassed it in every way with its grittier, Stax-on-acid soul.

Sprott, however, felt that in many ways he didn’t get to capitalize on the album’s strengths live, because it was just too hard to get the big Mumlers lineup on tour. In 2011, he decided to do some dates as a solo act.

He’s also been working on his follow-up to Don’t Throw Me Away, though he doesn’t yet know if it’ll be released under the Mumlers moniker, his own name or something else entirely. The upcoming album promises to be something unexpected. It’s not a revisiting of his sound on the last record—in fact, there are no horns at all. Instead, Sprott is focusing on bizarre new uses for vocal harmonies.

Fierce Creatures
10:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
Being a seven-piece indie-rock band gives Fierce Creatures the maneuverability to play exactly the kind of music they imagine. It also gives them plenty of room to layer in as many sounds and harmonies as they need to create gorgeous, dynamic-enriched arrangements.

They combine guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion and even some less-standard instruments like an occasional mandolin, harmonica and some bells—a tactic that creates a wall of sound larger than any one instrument. They work together to create new soundscapes, intense moods and crescendos, rather than focusing on any one member and showing off their chops.
Fierce Creatures tinker with musical styles indiscriminately, tactfully hodgepodging bits of pop, folk, soul, classic rock and experimental sounds into their songs to create something that is all their own. They dig for the most basic thread of childlike musical expression and re-interpret the standard rock & roll conventions to give new life to pleasantly familiar simple songs.

Mike Huguenor
9:30pm, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
“Agues,” the first song off Mike Huguenor’s solo album, Bardamu, is a solid, quirky alt-rock jam that rests nicely between the musical extremes of his various bands. There is Shinobu, his on-again-off-again neurotic jangle-pop quartet. Then there’s Hard Girls, the sophisticated, post-punk power trio. And of course there’s the Classics of Love, his old-school punk-rock group that’s fronted by none other than Jesse Michaels, the former lead singer of Operation Ivy.

Somehow, Huguenor also found time to record this solo EP and even shot a music video for “Agues,” which features him as every member of the band and every person in the audience. His solo material isn’t as overtly offbeat as Shinobu, or as complex as Hard Girls, or even as fierce as the Classics of Love. But what it does have is a newfound level of maturity that marries all of these elements and delivers them in an understated, clever way.

B. Lewis
12:30am, Pagoda Lounge, Fairmont
Producer and beatmaker B. Lewis is one of many local musicians influenced by Peanut Butter Wolf. Born and raised in San Jose, B. Lewis quickly came to appreciate Wolf’s legacy as a trailblazer once he started making music in 2009. “He definitely led the way, in the right way,” says Lewis.

Only 23 now, Lewis ironically didn’t discover labels like Stones Throw and Brainfeeder until he went away to Expression College in the East Bay. After college, Lewis moved back to San Jose. This spring, he finished the Egg Black EP, with singer Miles Bonny. What might surprise those who are only familiar with Lewis’ more experimental beats is the sleek and smooth sound of the songs’ soulful R&B.

Lewis’ newest release, A Lion’s Aperture, came out in late July, and delivers further proof of his willingness to push boundaries in a late-night groove. “Priority Number One” kicks off with spacey pinging sounds that evolve into an otherworldy wash of sound and vocal abstractions. “World Frozen Over” spins off in a swirl of sonic scat, anchored by strong keyboards.

It’s been almost a year since James Fenwicke and the rest of the original Mumlers lineup parted ways with singer-songwriter Will Sprott. So far, life after the Mumlers hasn’t been a bad thing for Fenwicke. It’s meant that Plantain, a side project of his since 2008, now gets his full attention.

“It’s freed up quite a bit of time. So much energy was going into the Mumlers for a while,” Fenwicke says.

Already Plantain has finished recording and mixing their debut album, Fall of a Candy Empire, something that had been on hold for years because Fenwicke’s time was so full juggling work and the Mumlers’ busy schedule.

Plantain’s album is all set to release just as soon as they duplicate it on vinyl. They launched a kickstarter campaign to raise money to fund the duplication costs and have almost reached their goal. Now there’s even talk of a Plantain tour this summer.

“I think people don’t take bands seriously till you have a recording,” Fenwicke says.

People only familiar with Fenwicke through the Mumlers might be surprised at what a departure Fall of a Candy Empire is from that band’s sound. That’s because Sprott and Fenwicke are two totally different kinds of songwriters.

“Will’s songwriting tends to draw off of more traditional blues and less from free-form experimental indie rock or experimental bands,” Fenwicke says.

Sprott’s interest in early American music is obvious in his songs, though he mixes up his influences in a totally unique, creative way. Fenwicke, on the other hand is all over the map with a much hazier combination of influences. There are elements of 60s psychedelic pop (like Zombies and Beatles), weird drug-addled rock and roll (Lou Reed), lazy ’90s DIY indie rock (Pavement), ’70s power pop (Alex Chilton) and bits of early Americana and country tossed in the mix. It’s a big blend of anything-goes rock and roll.

South Bay fans may wonder where Will Sprott and the Mumlers have been. The singer-songwriter known for sparking the South Bay’s wave of freak-rock a few years ago hasn’t been nearly as ubiquitous here since he moved to the East Bay. But he’s been perhaps busier than ever, doing six tours last year. He returns to San Jose Saturday (March 24) for a show at San Pedro Market.

It’s been a couple of years now since the Mumlers second album, Don’t Throw Me Away. If the folky debut was surprising, offbeat and well-executed enough to get Sprott national media attention, the follow-up surpassed it in every way with its gritter, Stax-on-acid soul.

But Sprott felt that in many ways he didn’t get to capitalize on the album’s strengths live, because it was just too hard to get the big, unwieldy Mumlers line-up on tour. In 2011, he decided he would “say yes to everything,” which meant doing some dates as a solo act, some with the original crew, some with a whole new Mumlers group, and a few with a mix of original and new members. Touring with The Tallest Man on Earth last year, he was playing sold-out 800-seat clubs in the U.S. and Canada.

He’s also been working on his follow up to Don’t Throw Me Away, though he doesn’t yet know if it’ll be released under the Mumlers moniker, his own name, or something else entirely.

I have a whole album written, and now I’m just trying to record it,” says Sprott. “I’m really excited about the pile of songs I have.”

Once again, the upcoming album promises to be something unexpected. It’s not a revisiting of his sound on the last record—in fact, there are no horns at all. Instead, Sprott is focusing on bizarre new uses for vocal harmonies, although it turns out they’re not so new after all.

“Someone at one of my shows asked me if we were hocketing,” he says.

Don’t worry, he had to look it up, too. “Hocketing” was a medieval singing technique where two or more people alternate singing the same melody. It turns out he was in fact hocketing; the technique shows up on new songs like “Little Bells,” of which he’s especially proud.

“It’s really weird,” he says. “It’s unlike anything I’ve done before.”

Will Sprott plays Saturday, March 24, at San Pedro Market in San Jose, 9pm; free.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Mumlers is one of San Jose’s greatest exports.  Lead vocalist William Sprott, spoke with us about his music, his escapades in Oakland and life in general. He performs next at a solo show at Swedish American Hall on February 24th as part of the Noise Pop festival.

Where can people find the covers album you and Eli did on his boat?

It’s an entire album of covers recorded over the last couple years with friends on a sailboat named “Josephine” while sailing around the bay being soft-rock pirates. We already started volume two. (Find Volume One HERE).

The band has changed from the original lineup, how did that influence your sound?

It is actually all the same people, but they had extensive plastic surgery. They sound more like women now because of certain hormonal treatments.

When’s the next tour? When’s the next show?

I’m doing a one-man, one-show tour of San Francisco at the Swedish American Hall on February 24th as part of the Noise Pop festival.

When can we expect a new album?

This year.

Where do you see your music going? Will the new Mumlers tracks sound anything like Bassnectar, or will you be going more Deadmau5?

More Ace of Base than either of those two.

How many Raiders hoodies do you own?

One. It’s a family heirloom from my Grandpa. It’s a cloaking device. When I pull the hood on I can haunt sideshows like a ghost and nobody even notices that I’m there.

What did moving to Oakland do for you musically?

It used to be wine, women and song. Now it’s beer, the old lady and TV.

You’ve got a really beautiful guitar style, which guitarists have influenced you lately?

Thank you. Pop Staples & Bert Jansch and my nine year old guitar student [are recent influences].

What did getting chosen for a Starbucks song of the week do for you guys?

People started showing up at our shows really wired on caffeine and getting pissed off when they found out we didn’t offer free wi-fi from the stage or sell pastries at our merch table.