We first heard about DIY Los Angeles group The Rebel Light back in the autumn when we featured their video for the track 'Goodbye Serenade'. Fast-forward a few months and their first EP is finished and is yours for the price of naff all, it's a gift from the kindness of their hearts, and as gifts go, this isn't a bad one at all. 'Goodbye Serenade' features and it's good to be reminded of their individual take on grand indie sounds. It's a pocket epic, resplendent with brass and a majestic chorus; all recorded in luxury locations such as their bathroom and wood shed. It's surprising how the best effects don't always come from multi-million pound studios. Take 60s million-seller 'Have I The Right?' by The Honeycombs. Joe Meek got the percussion sound by having people stamping on the stairs. Sounds can come from anywhere.
The rest of the EP is similarly DIY and you wonder what other techniques the band used to get the vibe they were after. Opening track 'My Heroes Are Dead' is also grander than is has any right to be, beginning with some stern strings and containing another big chorus. 'Wake Up Your Mind' takes in a little more of a electronic sound, the beginning recalling prime-period Giorgio Moroder and the overall effect is slightly more commercial, which is possibly the reason for making a radio edit available. Once more these guys have come up good on the chorus front and indicated that they have the knowhow to not only write a catchy hook but to get the sound they're after too. Maybe that leap from the shed to the studio isn't far away, although secretly we're hoping they keep as DIY as possibly, because they don't need to change a thing.
The Rebel Light's website
Stream or download the EP
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