Premiere: Lesands, ‘Restless Lover’

Kevin Bronson on
4

Hard to believe Lesands has been a band less than a year. The San Diego County outfit (now a trio) put smiles on faces and set bodies in motion with their kaleidoscopic take on ’80s synth-pop from the moment they stepped on southern California stages. Their reference points are many, but judging from the five songs on their debut “Sweet Skin” EP, they could call themselves “Surf Shop Boys” and it’d be perfect.

The band’s summery sounds began to take shape a few years ago in the bedroom of songwriter Austin Taylor Tirado, now 22. “I played drums, dabbled in keyboards, kind of taught myself everything,” he says. “I was the kind of person who worked alone. … But finally I arrived at a handful of songs I actually wanted to show people.”

Those songs reflected a lot of the music the singer heard growing up – like his mother’s Madonna and Duran Duran, his aunt’s Talk Talk and Japan – and his own explorations in ’60s music and Phil Spector’s wall of sound.

With a lineup now rounded out by Joel Plotnik (ex-Castledoor) and Nik Ewing, Lesands has strung together a series of memorably exuberant shows recently in L.A., and Taylor Tirado isn’t taking the attention for granted. “So far, it’s been amazing,” he says. “It’s a humbling experience to find people who believe in you.”

||| Download: The entire “Sweet Skin” EP via Bandcamp.

||| Live: Lesands opens for We Barbarians on Feb. 3 at the Echo. After SXSW, they also go on tour with Foster the People and Grouplove and Hanni El Khatib, with a March 25 date at the Troubadour. [Item fixed to show correct Troub lineup.]