Allah-Las “Worship The Sun”

This is the second album from Allah-Las and it certainly has an apt title for this band who hail from LA. They certainly have echoes of that great musical city, but not the present one but from times gone by. It certainly comes as no surprise to hear bands like The Beach Boys, Love and The Byrds being touted as influences.

Opening track “De Vida Voz” immediately takes us in to a time warp to mid-sixties America. It’s a psychedelic, hazy track which would be accompanied by loads of swirly images in the video. “Had It All” is very similar in terms of the sixties sound, but adds a bit of a Doors guitar line and a sense of mystery to the overall Byrds melody. It’s a style which is repeated on a number of songs on the album, such as “Follow You Down”.

The album also includes a couple of instrumentals, including “Ferus Gallery”, which has some wicked surf guitar in it. It’s a track which will have you gathering up your surfboard and hitting the waves…or at least wishing you were! “No Werewolf” is it’s perfect accompaniment on the ‘B side’ of the album. The track “Recurring” adds more of a Brian Wilson/Beach Boys sense of wonderment to the underlying surf melody. Whilst “Yemeni Jade” and title track “Worship The Sun” are two totally blissed out songs, perhaps perfect for that post surf chill out, as the sun sinks in to the horizon.

There is a brighter and more up tempo mix to the sound on “Better Than Mine”, the sixties influence is still there, but now we are talking Head era Monkees. The sprightly and more fun filled sound is also apparent on “Every Girl”, which would be perfect for a beach scene in a movie.

Anyone listening to Worship The Sun for the first time will not believe it was recorded this year. The whole sound of the band, and the production, is like a long lost sixties album. In fact, it even feels wrong listening to it on an iPod, this deserves to be heard with the crackle of vinyl. It’s an album to be put on post surf, on a beautiful, warm and bright evening.