I‘ve been watching Seinfeld reruns again because why the fuck not? Anyway, The Chinese Woman episode was on again recently. You know that one? George’s phone line gets crossed with a woman named Donna Chang. Jerry inadvertently talks to her and asks her out, thinking she’s Chinese — and is surprised when she turns out to be Caucasian. Listening to this EP, I kind of know how he felt. Oh sure, on the surface these songs are all sunny and breezy and indie-poppy and friendly. But dig a little deeper are there are clearly clues — aside from their name, there are the snakefinger guitars, a few Eastern-sounding melodies and some fluttery female vocals — that might lead you to suspect they’re an Asian band. (Granted, the album title and at least one song’s lyrics are Spanish lyrics, but that kinda just ups the exotic factor, you know?) Anyway, turns out they’re from L.A., which certainly doesn’t detract from the charm and sweetness of their sound, but does make you go, ‘Huh.’ I don’t know if any of them are named Changstein, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
THE PRESS RELEASE: “This EP is made up of songs we’ve written over the past couple of years. We recorded it at Kevin Ratterman’s studio in Silver Lake and at our studio in Highland Park. It’s a very collaborative EP in that all the songs have different combinations of primary writers, so you really get a sense of everyone’s writing style and flavor. Because we realize the power of music to influence human beings, our songs are concerned with themes of love, connection, healing and nature. Especially during these strange times, we feel these things are of utmost importance as we learn how to live in new, hopefully more holistic and healthy ways — with each other, with the Earth, with ourselves.”
