Los Angeles surf rock band, La Luz, is back with their third album titled Floating Features. Mixing in some lush 1960’s pop guitars, grooving bass, and tight drums make for a very relaxing and mellow listen. La Luz knows fairly well that they are not treading new waters or even adding a new twist to the surf rock genre itself, instead they fully embrace the time they are given to bask in the sunshine.
The vast majority of songs are fairly straightforward. The compositions are absolutely comfortable just flowing without make many splashes or offering many surprises. It’s like watching a steady pond that ripples with no disruptions. This isn’t at all a negative point, as the songs are meant to evoke the mellow and relaxing side of surf rock. “Walking Into the Sun” and “Don’t Leave Me on the Earth” bring to mind the band playing these songs to a crowd slowly swaying to the soft and inviting vocals and tight instrumentation. Shana Cleveland deserves much credit to her ability to steer songs with her soft voice in a weaving path without disrupting the aforementioned pond ripples.
Floating Features is not looking to reinvent surf rock or add anything drastically different to the genre as a whole. Instead, La Luz plays with the genre offering soft and melancholy songs that would be perfect as the soundtrack to the next visit you take the beach. Shana Cleveland excels at creating a steady of pure bliss that never slows down to the point of exhaustion, but never veers too off topic that songs are cluttered and messy.
By Caleb Ortiz