I already had a taste of Cayucas at the Jubilee music festival in June, and when I saw that they were playing a free show at Space 15 Twenty, I said to myself why not a second taste? I hadn’t been blown away by their set nor had run to Amoeba to buy their album, but their tropical sound was pleasant enough to give them another try.
Last time I saw them, the music and the onomatopoetic lyrics gave me a big Vampire Weekend vibe, and it didn’t fail this time either as they probably played the same songs off their debut album ‘Bigfoot’. The numerous ‘Ho Hey Ho Hey Ho’, the dynamic BQQ-on-the-beach rhythms, the tropical, slightly-African guitars, and Zach Yudin’s soft vocals, certainly sounded a little too close to the New York City band’s own music at times, and this could have been the problem. I probably enjoyed their set a little less this time, because any effect of surprise had disappeared and their songs sounded a bit too familiar and cozy, like an old pair of comfortable shoes you have liked in the past but don’t really want to wear anymore? With Cayucas, music and lyrics seemed to be all about beach, sun and girl crush, in other words, the main preoccupation of good looking young men from Santa Monica. It was happy sunny music, almost too gentle at times, but with enough good rhythms to make you tap your toes, may be not your entire body, or even your entire foot, but who needs to dance when you get to watch these clean-cut good looking beach boys front row? Plus everyone was getting the impression to see double all the time, as Yudin’s twin brother was the bassist of the band.
If this Vampire Weekend idea in the back of my mind may have been a constant distraction, the music for the song ‘Cayucos’ sounded more about an idea of relaxing vacation and cool life on the beach than urban angst,… ‘I wanna be a deep sea diver’ sang Yudin in ‘Deep Sea Diver’, and there was not too much mystery there, it was sweet and charming, soaked by the California sun, whereas ‘East Coast Girl’ had infectious rhythms and sweet hooks and more than ever that tropical-island-Vampire-Weekend-cover-band feeling. If the title track ‘Bigfoot’ was a head-gently-banging or a-contra-slow-fun dance, ‘High School Lover’ was vaguely echoing something Beck could have written. But I should stop with all these comparisons, after all, their album was produced by The Shins’ Richard Swift, which should be another positive side of this new upbeat indie band.
May be the crowd was a little less into it than last time I saw them at the Jubilee, this free concert at Space 15 Twenty had attracted a large and young audience, but there also was free wine and beer, and this can be very seducing for this type of crowd! Yudin and his band seemed to be a littler shyer than last time too, he said he was happy to play in Hollywood, but the enthusiasm wasn’t completely there. Still, Cayucas played pleasant music, certainly more mood changing than game changing, with easy-going and ready-for-beach-parties songs,… and what else could we ask for in the middle of the summer?
