Photography: Ian Pohl
San Fernando Valley duo, Locas may be a young 19 and 21 years old, but they are already getting the ball rolling with the release of their debut six-track EP Demonstration, available on Bandcamp and via cassette on White Raven Records. Formed in 2012 by Andy Locas (guitar/vocals) and Eddie Locas (drums), the band produces tunes that are chock-full of balls to the wall garage punk, intertwined with sullen emo moments and guttural grunge ramblings. You can hear Locas just letting it all out with elements of angst, joy, dismay, and all sorts of young feral feelings. Demonstration is quickly finding itself to be a fitting piece to the soundtrack of living the real la vida loca in Los Angeles.
Why We Dig Them: The band stayed true to their underground style by recording the EP locally at Lolipop Records in Echo Park. The group discovered that Lollipop was open to recording bands outside of the label and within a few weeks they were recording with Robert of Corners. Eddie shares, “The Lolipop sound is really cool. They have a whole niche audience which is pretty crazy considering it’s based in L.A. where everybody seems like they’re trying to start up their own label and have festivals that don’t really work out … Lolipop is doing their stuff right.”
Best Songs: Opening track “Disclaimer” straight up rips a new one with practically indiscernible lyrics and immense energy. This is an unabashedly heavy handed garage punk number, the type of song where there’s nothing you can do but lose your shit to it. “Weathering Huts” continues to roll out the high energy but with a softer vocal edge that wails and wafts pleasantly through a forest of lo-fi fuzz. Kick back, head bang, repeat.
Interesting Tidbit: The duo reveals where they got such a catchy, awesome name and an unexpected musical inspiration.
When asked why the band is called Locas… “It’s a reference to the gang in the Love and Rockets (graphic novel) series. I (Andy) felt a strong connection to that series as soon as I picked it up.”
Why the strong connection to L&R… “Andy’s the big comic guy of the group, but even I would say that the connection comes from the setting, how the gang called Locas is from the valley, where we are from. Also, they seem pretty punk, for comic book characters” (Eddie).
When asked who they cite as musical inspirations… We’re big on Joyce Manor, Jawbreaker, Iceage, and Kanye, even though we argue about the order of greatness that his albums come in. Andy ranks Graduation as tops and Eddie disagrees, with the simple proclamation that College Dropout is the best.
Three Words To Describe Locas: Heady — Liberating — Therapeutic
Upcoming Shows / Releases:
Locas just played Los Globos and Tribal Cafe. Stay tuned for more dates! The band have a forthcoming split in September with Sean Patrick Sullivan.
Words: Emily Saex
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