Up from the beaches and down from the canyons comes Beachwood Sparks with a sound that could only be created by those who have spent their lives under the California sun. This is music from the heart, carried on a desert wind to all the starving souls out there.
With an honesty and earnestness uncharacteristic of these irony-laden times, Beachwood Sparks picks up where the Flying Burrito Brothers and Buffalo Springfield left off. But make no mistake, this isn't an echo of yesteryear so much as a new voice well-versed in the ways of the past.
And while this is their first album there is nothing naive about it. This music sounds like the output of a band that has spent years shining their songs so they will flash like that last glimpse of the sun before it hits the sea.
Although they've only been a band for a relatively brief time these boys have spent years involved with music. Their histories are as diverse as the summers down here are long. For starters Brent Rademaker, on bass, was part of the L.A. indie stalwart outfit Further, whose releases on Creation Records and Brent's own Christmas Records helped shape the sound of indie rock to come in the Southland. For a short time Chris Gunst, on guitar on vocals, also served in the Further ranks, while also pursuing his own post-rock ambitions in Strictly Ballroom. Farmer Dave Scher, on slide guitar and keys, worked with Chris at the near-legendary college radio station in Los Angeles KXLU fm. While drummer Aaron Sperske still pulls double duty to this day with the Lilys. In the ever-shifting underground it comes as no surprise that the Beachwood Sparks ended up serving as Kurt Heasley's backing band on the Lilys' last tour; showing everyone just how versatile and talented these boys are.
With a 7" for the now-infamous Sub Pop Singles Club and another 7" for the legendary Bomp! Records, Beachwood Sparks set the music cognoscenti on their collective ear with their beautifully countrified pop songs. Their debut self-titled full-length finds them more fully realizing their roots; skillfully exploring the chiming heights and leading us down a path that hasn't been walked since Gram Parsons showed us the way many years ago.
So there you go. Now put on the record and let it carry you away. Forget about the trivialities of your mundane existence and let the Beachwood Sparks envelop you. Take a trip to a Southern California that even most Southern Californians have forgotten exists; one where your picnic forks and not your friends are made of plastic.

order it now!