Ears Wide Open: Salt Petal
Seraphina Lotkhamnga on
6
Going down a bold path similar to the sonically eclectic Fool’s Gold, Salt Petal seasons the exuberant indie-rock on its forthcoming EP with all manner of global influences. The L.A. quartet, whose members include Autumn Harrison (vocals/accordion), Rodrigo Gonzalez (guitar), Hiroo Nakano (drums) and Dayna Richards (trumpet), fuses Argentinian folk, Brazilian tropicalia, Cumbia and up-tempo rock with such flair you’ll feel like you’ve traveled the world listening to songs on “Tip of the Sunfish.” Their single “Songs I Used to Love” bids for summer pop anthem status, as its musical elements are as diverse as L.A.’s ethnic makeup. Then in tunes such as the “Por la Luna,” sung entirely in Spanish, butter-smooth vocals from Harrison drape scintillating percussion throughout for a seductive listen. Produced by Raymond Richards (Local Natives, Henry Clay People, among others) and mastered by Mark Chalecki (Los Abandoned, Les Butcherettes), “Tip of the Sunfish” is due out on Sept. 17.
||| Download: “Por la Luna”
||| Stream: “Songs I Used to Love”:
||| Live: Salt Petal play Saturday as part of Echo Park Rising, Aug. 30 at House of Blues, Sept. 22 at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex with Lila Downs and Oct. 14 at Pasadena Art Weekend.
Hmmm…
Just went to see Salt Petal at Steynberg Gallery (San Luis Obispo).
Liked the preview (youtube) but had a couple of issues with the performance… constructive crit:
$15 for a one hour show? Pretty steep, compared to the quality and varierty of shows we get up here – we get accustomed to eccentric, cutting edge, international acts with professional sounds, which brings me to point #2:
Turning the volume as loud as it will go makes the trumpet sound like the accordion like the bass like the singer.
We couldn’t pick out the melodies easily, and although I’m sure the songs were good (given what I’d seen on youtube) the sound mixing and over-amplification were over the top bad.
Really disappointed (everyone seemed surprised the show was so short) about the show; we really wanted to like them!
Saw this band at Hotel Utah and loved them. They were really tight and the sound was good. I would be down to see them again very soon. Singer has sweet voice and they have a tropical feel good vibe to them.
This is one of my new favorite LA bands. Their sound is super unique and I like the blend of South American rhythms with indie rock and Argentinean folk. Seen them numerous times and every time I want to see them more! Hoping they will play a lot more local gigs soon.
Dear Joe, it seems that you are a hater, mean person and you don’t even know what you are talking about.
Salt Petal is one of the best bands from Los Angeles, I saw them live and they kick ass, that’s for sure. Maybe you are deaf or the sound system wasn’t good enough or maybe you are getting old. You just can’t blame the band because of the shitty PA, check their music first and then talk.
Every time I saw this band live I danced until my legs couldn’t move any more.
Cool band, I love these guys.
[…] ||| Previously: “Darkest Hours,”“Pico,”“Por La Luna” […]