The Californian, a band who as the name suggests hail from the U.S. west coast, first came to life in 2007 when lead singer John Graney released a collection of rough demos he’d been working on via the internet. The current lineup came together over the course of the next few years, and regular performances in and around L.A. saw the band develop a dedicated following. This ultimately led to a four track EP entitled Sea of Love in 2010, and now a self-titled debut album due for release in the next couple of months. The band are unsigned, and turned to their fans via Kickstarter to help fund production of the record.
The result is a collection of songs which the The Californian describe as ‘surf rock’, a term that for many will conjure thoughts of bands such as The Beach Boys and The Surfaris, but which is imbued here with an urgency far greater than the breezy, care-free vibes of its 1960s forerunners.
The album kicks off with Everybody Loves You, a hectic whirlwind of a song that builds to a wonderful soaring chorus. The Man with the Goodnight Gun, meanwhile, skillfully manages to sound eerily reminiscent of a long lost theme tune to a classic Sean Connery Bond movie without ever falling into pastiche. Balancing the brilliance of the up-beat numbers are a handful of slower, yet equally memorable tracks; Girl in the Moon Pt. 1 is a sweet, summery, instantly hummable tune driven along by a combination of gentle guitar strums and handclaps, while Girl in the Moon Pt. 3 is by turn both melancholy and beautifully haunting.
Across the entire album there’s an effortless, almost world-weary quality to Graney’s vocals that give these songs a timeless feel, whether it be in fast-paced tracks such as A Billion Grains of Sand or the more laid-back Heads Up that it segues effortlessly into. Combined with classic guitar hooks and warm vocal harmonies the result is a collection of songs that both acknowledges the themes of traditional surf music while at the same time bringing a much-needed relevance to a genre that is often-overlooked by modern audiences.
In crafting their first full-length album, The Californian have created a record infused with a quintessential west coast sound. From the opening track to the very last there’s a consistently high quality to these songs and a heartfelt honesty that remains with you long after you’ve first listened to them. It’s a small ray of Californian sunshine amid a damp British summer, and an absolute gem of an album.
