L.A. Witch – L.A. Witch

L.A. Witch’s self-titled debut is a thoroughly Californian album. It was recorded in Costa Mesa and mixed in Los Angeles, and just check out that album art... but it sounds born to laze in the shadows rather than soak up the sun. It also sounds little like a debut, because six of the songs on this nine track LP have been around online – in the form of a live video, or a Bandcamp single, or a demo – for a year at least, four years at most.

All this is to L.A. Witch's credit, though. Bassist Irita Pai, drummer Ellie English and vocalist/guitarist Sade Sanchez have toured tirelessly, and no secret is safe on the internet – particularly not songs as good as these. Nostalgic, stylish and Lynchian, L.A. Witch commit to record, for posterity, exactly how their sound has evolved and grown. Their reverb is groundshaking, the riffs are slack and sticky, and English's drums bring a concise punk clarity. 

L.A. Witch's dreamy, gothic take on garage rock is more about atmosphere than message, but you'll find plenty of devil in their details: there's a malicious glee to opener Kill My Baby Tonight, and a mind-bending, desert swirl of a guitar solo on Get Lost. You could track down earlier incarnations of both these tracks, but why bother? They've never sounded harder or sharper.

Listen to: Baby in Blue Jeans, Get Lost, Kill My Baby Tonight