California surf rockers Cayucas have been keeping our summer quite lovely. They dropped their delightful debut LP, Bigfoot, back in May and we've been dancing to it ever since. Last month, they played a headlining gig at Barboza in support of the record with JBM to much acclaim. But before they took to the stage, they had some time to swing by the KEXP studio and play a short set with Stevie Zoom to further showcase their pitch perfect pop tunes.
Zach Yudin has been working on perfecting the tunes on Bigfoot for a couple years now. From his early cuts as Oregon Bike Trails to the Secretly Canadian debut, we saw a great jump in scope and depth. Yudin has channeled the arrangement genius of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and the bright, preppy fun factor of Vampire Weekend to make a record that you could listen to for weeks on end. But in the live setting, the thick, luscious arrangements are stripped away and we get to witness the raw power of these tunes as living beings. To no surprise, Yudin's tunes maintain 100% of their refreshing power here in the studio.
If you haven't checked out Cayucas yet, here is a perfect opportunity (and seriously, what have you been waiting for?). Watch the full Cayucas performance with interviews here, and watch them perform four songs from their debut record Bigfoot below. Bigfoot is out now on Secretly Canadian.
Surprisingly, you don’t see guitars dressed up, tagged or written on very often. But the guitar that belongs to Kimya Dawson of The Uncluded is just that. It’s like a city wall full of expression. Like their artwork, the music this Rhymesayers duo, which also features Portland emcee Aesop Rock, is …
When England's Lucy Rose came in to KEXP's studios, the friendly, unassuming songwriter didn't give much of a hint of the powerhouse performance that was about to come out. When she began singing a set of songs from her 2012 debut, Like I Used To, the Surrey chanteuse released a For Emma-level emot…
