Alta California, the new bilingual album by The Soft White Sixties, finds the Los Angeles 5-piece expanding upon their contemporary concoction of rock ‘n’ roll and soul while also exploring some of their most relevant lyrical content to date (in both English and Spanish).

Produced by Elijah Thomson (Father John Misty, Delta Spirit, Richard Swift), Alta California was written and recorded at New Monkey Studio, a room formerly owned by Elliott Smith, over the course of several sessions that began on Election Night 2016.  Lead singer Octavio 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.

Justin Roeland is an American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist best known for his work as guitarist/keyboardist with the Long Beach,Ca psych-rock band, The Fling (Dangerbird Records) and chamber pop ensemble Greater California.Roeland released his first solo album, "Blind Spots" in 2014. The album was recorded partly in a textile warehouse in Signal Hill, Ca and finished in an off grid cabin in the Finger Lakes.
     
"...an album filled with the kind of classic songwriting that always has a way of marking those milestone moments in the lives of the audience. Listen to Blind Spots all the way through and you’re bound to seal your feelings about wherever you are in your life right now in a kind of musical amber. The music is that rich and evocative." -Saby Reyes-Kulkarni (Paste, Pitchfork, Feedback Deficiency).

Between The Lakes, Roelands latest release, was also recorded on the move in friends houses, cabins and in recital halls at Ithaca College.Since landing in Ithaca, Roeland has linked up with guitarist/singer Ryan Vanderhoof (Akron Family), multi-instrumentalist Eric Harvey(Spoon) and drummer Matt Succuccimorano to form Nightswimmers.

Jazz, Electronica and colourful vibes
Check out my EP 'A Long, Long Time Ago...'

Update August 2024: All upcoming music will be released over at my other page William Benckert. 
Thanks for listening❤️

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