Family Of The Year: Loma Vista on LP
Loma Vista
The good old vinyl record.
For vinyl shipping within Germany is free.
- Label:
- Nettwerk
- Year of recording ca.:
- 2012
- Item number:
- 3135993
- UPC/EAN:
- 0067003095815
- Release date:
- 10.7.2012
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A band is only as good as its most recent output, which is why it’s fair to say that Family of the Year has positioned itself for greatness. Recorded by what now constitutes the core of FOTY—Joe (vocals, guitar), Sebastian (drums, vocals), Buckey (guitar, vocals), and Christina Schroeter (keyboards, vocals)—the group completed 14 songs with producer Wally Gagel at his new studio in Hollywood, 10 of which made it onto Loma Vista. This is the first time that the band has worked with a producer and gone outside their own camp to release their music.
With Gagel’s assistance, the band has crafted a stirring set of songs teeming with catchy melodies, clever ruminations on love, heartbreak, and staying up late enough to watch the sun rise, and a cosmopolitan flavor enhanced by the fact that the members of Family of the Year hail from all over the globe. After being born in Martha’s Vineyard, the Keefe brothers followed their father’s bloodline back to Wales during their formative years (during which time Britpop was booming); Buckey is from Jacksonville, Florida, where he familiarized himself with that town’s all-ages punk scene; and Schroeter is the lone Southern California native, having grown up in Huntington Beach, where she inevitably became enamored with the ska scene led by No Doubt. Though still only in their 20s, the members of this Family are music veterans, and the precision with which they play is a testament to all of the hard work that got them here.
Gagel is another Boston native, having played with ’90s power trio Orbit prior to his current status as half of the hit-making production duo Wax Ltd (he and Xandy Barry have collectively and individually worked with artists like Folk Implosion, Muse, New Order, and The Rolling Stones). Joe had already developed strong ties with Gagel before the band entered the studio.
“Having him be a really close friend instead of a random producer assigned to us was really helpful, because you have to be pushed to edit yourself and be better, be stronger, work harder on things,” says Joe. “Working with someone like that who knows exactly what we wanted it to sound like with the same exact vision, it was really kind of a no-brainer.”
As a collection, the album is a lively slice of indie, dance- and psych-rock. Most songs highlight the perennial backdrop of California sunbeams – “St. Croix” is a dreamy tune about “a boy from Florida / took a trip to the Caribbean … he came to get over her,” (and yes, it’s about Jamesy), the strummy, 5-part harmonic “Stairs” and propulsive keyboard-laden “Diversity” are lovely servings of the band’s signature exuberance. But, don’t be misguided in thinking the band is only about cheerful, jangly tunes. Family Of The Year opens the album up to down-tempo tracks that ache a little and leave sepia-filtered images in your mind – e. g. “Hero” and “Hey Ma.”
“It feels like the first time in so many ways, because it’s the first time things have really clicked,” says Joe.
“We inspire each other,” says Sebastian. “It was important for this record to be something that would stand up as one piece, rather than something that sounded like songs strung together. We really wanted to have a record with a clear identity.”
And Family of the Year’s future is clearly a bright one. Playing every show like it’s a special occasional and writing each song with complete conviction has allowed the band to accomplish everything it has set its sights on. As “Living On Love” notes, “they say that you can’t get every little thing that you want … it’s such a lie.”
(familyoftheyear. net)
Tracklisting
The audio samples belong to the article Family Of The Year: Loma Vista (CD). The track list may differ for this item.
LP
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1 The stairs
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2 Diversity
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3 St. Crix
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4 Buried
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5 Hero
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6 Everytime
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7 Living on love
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8 Hey...
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9 In the end
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10 Never enough
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11 Find it
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