'L.A. Witch,' the band's first full-length after being together for four years, is out September 8 on Suicide Squeeze.
You have to really listen for Sade Sanchez's voice on L.A. Witch songs. She drifts between a snarl and a howl, imitating reverb, so you'll only get the odd word here or there: "car," "soul," "darkness," "Hell." The blend of desert punk, 60s girl group sounds, and garage rock that they've honed over the last four years is dark and evocative, and those intimations work perfectly. Sanchez sounds like she genuinely might steal your car and your soul, and then drive them both through the darkness to Hell.
Having recently announced a move to Seattle's Suicide Squeeze Records—home to Ty Segall and Audacity—today the band are announcing their debut full-length LP, L.A. Witch, out September 8. Lead single "Untitled," premiering on Noisey, captures the record's unruly sentiments perfectly. Sanchez drawls like a Tennessee country outlaw, her guitar scrapes the floor with a languid but jittery riff, Ellie English's drum's thud in and out behind her, and Irita Pai holds it all together with a bassline that bounces in the verses and stretches out in the chorus.
"Untitled was one of the first songs we ever wrote together as a full band," Pai tells Noisey in an email. "We were all listening to a lot of Nirvana, Gun Club, and Stooges at the time. We weren't necessarily trying to have that kind of vibe with the song. Looking back, there are bits here and there that remind me of those early days."
