Tuesday, April 21, 2009

LA Love: Castledoor

Hello hello!

Consider today's installment of LA Love a 3rd reminder to our LA readers about the Castledoor/Parson Red Heads/Princeton show at the Echoplex next Tuesday night (April 28th -- that's a week from today!) You can read about the Parson Red Heads and Princeton in previous LA Love entries here and here.

But today I'm excited to talk to you about Castledoor, a band I've been a fan of since 2007 and who just keeps getting better and better and better. They're a 6-piece band consisting of Nate Combs (lead vox), Gabe Cole (guitar), Coury Jane Combs (vocals, synth), Liska Cole (vocals, keys), Brando Schwartzel (bass), and Joel Plotkin (drums) -- not that it's terribly important but in case you're wondering, there's no White Stripes ambiguity here, the Combs and the Coles are married couples.

The Castledoor sound is a generous mix of indie pop, rock, and soul. Nate Combs is a fantastic frontman, and the talent in the rest of the band can't be overlooked. I've seen them play a handful of times in various clubs both big and small, and they always look sharp and sound even better. But what's really gotten me excited is that their first full-length album, Shouting At Mountains, comes out today (!) with a record release party next Tuesday night. They've previously released an EP and a 7", and this new record was produced by Rooney's own Robert Carmine. I saw them play back in the middle of March, and it was my first time hearing some of the new tunes -- put simply, it's gonna be awesome. The soul influences are way more apparent now, especially in the vocals, and the music has gotten a little heavier while retaining a pop sound.

Back in 2007, the day before I first saw Castledoor live, a co-worker told me that he hadn't seen them either but they were supposedly a must-see.... after that show I was hooked. Take a listen to the tunes below, and let me know if I've convinced you--

Note: if you want to check out Castledoor's new tunes, they're posting a new song per day on their Myspace. They're also playing a set at UCLA's Bruin Plaza at noon, Wednesday afternoon!

1 comment:

Lauralee said...

Shouting At The Mountains is amazing! Probably my best release of the year!

Your lucky to have seen them live,I loved Castledoor since 2006. Last year I was going to fly out to see their "Sweater" show, but my flight got canceled because of the weather here. If it wasn't for a huge test on the 28th I would be flying out for their cd release.

I guess in all reality, I should move to California. It'd sure make things easier.