New LA Adds: Levitation Room

Levitation Room - Ethos: Ethos by Levitation Room is everything right that’s going on in Orange County currently. With teenage-centric, cult-status label Burger Records as the mantlepiece of local music down in the OC, the quickly popularized “beach-goth” culture of neo-psychedelic, garage, DIY, angsty, thrift-shop music has propelled the label into a nationally-renowned factory for good music, gel shoes and cheap cigarettes… Which is exactly the feeling that Levitation Room manages to encompass in their fantastic debut LP Ethos. Equal parts beachy, psychedelic and deeply groovy, this collection of ten quick, reverb-happy tunes packs a quick, energetic and dreamy punch. This is the stuff you play when coasting down the PCH or on a summer day with a California burrito in hand. The album isn’t perfect, which is what makes it shine, in my opinion, as you can tell this was made by humans with cheap guitars, a couple of fuzz pedals and a couple of vintage keys. The album walks along nicely, making it a smooth listen front to back, with enough variation in the tracks to keep it interesting, as one of the biggest faults in middle-tier Burger Records bands is repetition in sound. This album also seems like a natural step forward from their early 2015 debut EP minds of our own. Whereas their EP was just lo-fi enough to merit being called “lo-fi”, Ethos sounds professionally recorded and mixed, which for a band so reverb-intensive, is only of benefit, because the genre feels Garage-esque already. The longest track is barely 4 minutes, so keeping the riff-intensive songs at the 2-3 minute mark works well, and keeps the pace of the album consistent. Overall, Ethos is an old Mystic Braves record with more focus and less synth, and if you are able to catch Levitation Room live in support of this record, I guarantee it will be a fab time. ADRIAN

RIYL: Mystic Braves, The Growlers, Allah-Las, Froth, The Creation Factory

Recommended Tracks: Cosmic Flower, Lazy Lawrence, Crystal Ball