New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "between booming snare and sustained high notes, Los Colognes pack in hazy guitar solos and tropical keyboards that interlock into a tight groove." - Stereogum
"It's an Americana slow-burner like The War on Drugs sans the hazy psychedelia, calming even as it beckons you to actively adjust the way you interact with your surroundings." - Consequence of Sound
"a languid, subtle groove, heavily rooted in hazy, wistful mid-'70s California pop, reminiscent of
that era's Bob Welch-fronted Fleetwood Mac" - American Songwriter
Nashville quintet Los Colognes will release their third album The Wave on May 12th via Big Deal Media / Thirty Tigers. The band just premiered the album with Culture Collide, who said "Carefree ballads interplay with playful pop melodies and an 80's flair - think yacht rock meets Knight Rider. Welcome to the soundtrack for your summer."
Los Colognes is on the road now, and will play New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Seattle, as well as Sasquatch and Lockn' Festivals. So far, The Wave has been praised by Stereogum, Relix, Observer, Consequence of Sound, American Songwriter, and more.
One of the highest and rarest aspirations in popular music is to reach for the transcendental, to access the spirit. On The Wave, Los Colognes succeeds at this - in breaking through the confines of everyday pop song lyricism to tell a holistic story. It's not a concept piece, but it's a brooding and joyful song cycle filled with philosophical rumination, effortless hooks, inspiring musicianship, and expansive arrangements. It's an album perfectly suited of the current zeitgeist of unease and hope.
Stereogum announced the album in January with a premiere of "Flying Apart." Guitarist/singer Jay Rutherford opines in the song - "Nobody believed / We're all just hoping / Floating down streams." It's a song that invokes "the wave" metaphor of the album's title, while churning through its own sonic sea of shimmering keyboards and guitars anchored by drummer
Aaron Mortenson. The music evokes any of the best moments of late seventies or mid eighties FM radio while never being weighed down by the specter of influence. Los Colognes are a young band who have managed to forge their own sound while channeling the best sonic worlds of the decades past. Though The Wave is firmly planted in a retro pop/rock sound, the band has some deep Americana roots, and has backed up artists like Margo Price, Rayland Baxter, Caitlin Rose,
Nikki Lane, Jonny Fritz, Andrew Combs, Erin Rae and more.
Unlike the live approach used to record the group's previous records, The Wave was built from the ground up with attention to each part. There is a certain economy of space in the songs that feels deliberate, while never ceasing to be warm and inclusive. Guitar and keyboard lines drift off each other in between lyrical exchanges while Mortenson propels the beat, sometimes meditative, sometimes driving.
The journey to finish recording The Wave was its own quest for Rutherford and Mortenson, a more deliberate process of creation and craft that shows a band becoming fully aware of its voice and its vision. Los Colognes have given us a singular collection of quietly anthemic tunes held together by philosophical reflection and damn fine rock and roll chops. The Wave is coming.
Tracklisting:
1. Sneakin' Breadcrumbs
2. Flying Apart
3. Unspoken
4.
Molly B Good
5. Forever In Between
6. The White Whale
7. Man Over Bored
8. Hope Not Too Long
9. A-OK
10. Can You Remember?
Tour dates:
5/12 Nashville, TN @ Grimey's (In-store)
5/19 Roanoke, VA @ 5 Points
Music Foundation
5/20 Richmond, VA @ Dominion RiverRock Festival
5/24 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
5/25 Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
5/26 George, WA @ Sasquatch Festival
6/03 Atlantic Beach, NC @ Crystal Coast
Music Festival
6/13 Columbus, OH @ Rumba Cafe
6/14 Pittsburgh, PA @ Brillobox
6/15 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge (early show)
6/16 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl with Soulive
6/17 Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy
6/18 Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
6/20 Raleigh, NC @ Pour
Music Hall
6/21 Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre
6/22 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
6/23 Nashville, TN @ 3rd + Lindsley - ALBUM RELEASE SHOW
6/24 Mobile, AL @ Callaghan's Irish Social Club
6/30 Lexington, KY @ The Burl
7/02 Chicago, IL @ Live on Lincoln
7/21 Brevard, NC @ Burning Can Festival
8/24-08/27 Arrington, VA @ Lockn' Festival