Stockton, California’s Craft Spells were first brought to my attention several months ago (according to the notes on my phone 118 days ago) by the Transparent blog for their track “The Fog Rose High,” and again this past weekend when I saw Weekly Tape Deck‘s post for “Ramona.”
Honestly “The Fog Rose High” was good enough to post on it’s own, but it took hearing a couple more tracks from these Northern Californians who at heart live in the 80′s to get me off my ass and start writing.
Craft Spells is comprised of Justin Vallesteros and Frankie Soto and their first track “The Fog Rose High” originally resonated in my head as a Magnetic Fields mid era (Charm of the Highway/Holiday/ Get Lost) inspired track in all of it’s electronic pop glory, but as I listened to it more I started to hear that a little bit less and pop giants of the 80s started to come to mind. Bits of the Cure and a good dose of New Order started to rise to the top, and not in the way where you are like this sounds like that, but in the sense that it hits the same parts of your brain.
Delicate guitar melodies over electronic beats, and smooth synths create a track that works for both the heat that New York is currently suffering through, and I imagine it would be even more enjoyable on the beaches of Northern California (oh how I wish there was an ocean breeze here). The b-side to the “The Fog Rose High” is a bit faster and a little more lo-fi sounding, but still showcasing the same traits. It is available as a free zip file enclosed with “The Fog Rose High” from their myspace, but I’ve been so into their songs I thought I would post it here as well:
[mp3] Craft Spells- “The Fog Rose High”
[mp3] Craft Spells- “You Should Close the Door”
Craft Spells’ newest single is “Ramona.” A more subdued melody lets the vocals relax creating more of a soulful dance vibe intertwined with that same blissful 80s influenced pop that caught my attention on their first single. Part of me wants this song to be a Scott Pilgrim reference but I doubt that is the case. “Ramona” combined with the three new tracks posted to their soundcloud in the past 16 days makes me really excited for new things to come from from this young band who is growing in depth and refining their style with each new track…we should be expecting a release titled Idle Labor any time now, and I honestly can’t wait. I don’t want to burn out the three mp3s that have been on repeat on my iPod all week.
[mp3] Craft Spells- “Ramona”
[stream] Craft Spells- “Gold Wing,” “Party Talk,” and “Azelea”
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- This is part of my Speed Dating series.
- You can read more about singles I have featured in this series here
- Photo by Yadira Varela.
- learn more about Craft Spells:
- blogspot
- myspace
- soundcloud
- keep an eye out for Idle Labor, due out sometime this summer.
