Old Californino Thursday, March 29th ***Free Show***
This summer Old Californio returned with the release of their third studio album Sundrunk Angels, which boasts some of the most rollicking, dynamic rock and roll since the ’70s heyday of the Faces and some of the sweetest, liveliest down-home sounds since the Byrds transitioned from psychedelic to countrypolitan” (Michael Snyder, SiriusXM).
Led by singer/ guitarist /songwriter Rich Dembowski, Sundrunk Angels fuses Old Californio’s own native blend of rock, country-folk, and proto-psychedelic leanings into its own eclectic musical spark.
Old Californio are at their core old friends who have been playing music together in one form or another since well before the band’s actual formation in 2006. This extended history lends a musical cohesiveness, allowing the ten songs on Sundrunk Angels to expand and contract organically. From the communal rustic/cosmic feel of “Better Yet”, the daring and unpredictable “Allon Camerado”, to the oddly archaic “Jewels and the Dross” and the stark and ethereal title track “Sundrunk Angels”. This is experimental ear candy. Songwriter Rich Dembowski’s lyric’s emotional directness suspends in time, loyal to an era of solitude, dangerous travel, risk, and gangrene. The guitar interplay between Dembowski and Aplanalp channel American Beauty acousticism, Moby Grape rawness, and even moments of Loose Fur punk rock avant-garde. While the rumbling, heavy planetary rhythm section of bassist Chesney and drummer Smith – along with Nuñez’s roiling B3 – underscore three and four part vocal harmonies that harkens back to Pasadena’s distant musical forefathers the Association