I saw Seasons once months ago, and I remember their sound being beautifully complex and damn difficult to write about it, and the songs diverse, evocative and moody. And since they currently have a free Monday residency at the Echo, it was time for another visit.
They have released an EP for each season, actually their last one, ‘Autumn’, was released the first night of their residency, and,they are conveniently playing one of them in its entirety each week; on Monday night, it was the turn of their ‘Spring’ release, a perfect fit for the month as the weather has been so nice in Los Angeles lately.
They had decorated the place to match the mood, with lots of nice-smelling flowers, hanging birds and clouds, and since every time the word seasons comes associated with music I think about classical music (I don’t know, beside Vivaldi, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring may come to mind) this décor was absolutely perfect for the Highland Park band’s set.
I am not exactly sure how anyone would hope to capture the sound of a season but their music was fresh and complex, as the extra-large band could take a new sonic detour faster than you could blink. I counted eight people on stage, but a few extra ones climbed up there for a few songs, and among them was Manhattan Murder Mystery man himself, Matthew Teardrop, who was visibly having a very good time.
The big ensemble, which even featured a violin played by Kaitlin Wolfberg and lots of percussion, blasted its hybrid full sound behind Nik Garcia’s strong and passionate vocals. I have read the adjective ‘psych ’associated a lot to their name, but I am not sure their adventurous songs, as erratic as the weather, would qualify for any genre. The band was slowly building up difficult melodies, oscillating between different paths,in which each instrument would eventually speed up and kick up into a gentle and organized chaos, sometimes restrained enough and surprisingly not too loud considering the number of people on stage, other times reaching a level of total catharsis.
Not a song was similar to the next one, Garcia’s croon going from a strong-ferocious to a top-of-the-lungs-gritty mode, being the common element in all this. Beside their Spring EP, they played songs from their last release Autumn, like ‘Lazy Bones’, which, with its crying violin, and over-the-top ascending melody sounded like an arena-size romantic Spanish song, sung knee-down and arms-in-the-air,… and I am not saying this in a pejorative way. This is a band which does not limit itself,bringing passion and a real cinematic vision in the middle of the stage.
As more people ended up in stage, petals were flying everywhere, the odor of the flowers was nicely filling the air and the public was catching up with the free spirit emanating from the music; people were jumping and bouncing as the sound was making more and more noisy swirls. They appropriately closed with ‘Monday Night’, a festive-happy-dancey tune you would expect to listen to on an exotic cruise, and at this point every body was gone into some exhilarating state of mind.
Any season can be capricious and moody, they will play their ‘Summer’ stuff next week, and probably will revisit any other season before the end of their residency. It’s a cyclic thing and since 2012 is supposedly the last year before the apocalypse, you have to catch the last season!