Balmorhea

Mixing the dusty, cinematic soundscapes of old spaghetti-western films with the mind-expanding Psych Rock of modern practitioners like The Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre (not to mention drone forefathers The Velvet Underground), L.A.'s Spindrift makes music that sounds like what one would hear while tripping in the desert on a vision quest.

Originally formed by singer/songwriter/guitarist Kirpatrick Thomas as two bands — an East Coast Rock one and a West Coast version more in line with Thomas' Ennio Morricone jones — the frontman bled all of the influences into one and dropped anchor in California, forming a seven-piece band (including former BJM and Warlocks members) to re-create the spooky Old West sounds in his head. The unique hybrid caught the ears of Sex Pistols' guitarist Steve Jones early, leading him to champion the band on his popular L.A. radio show. Since then, Spindrift has worked songs into movie soundtracks — most notably the indie The Legend of God's Gun, in which the band's music plays a starring role — and are currently enjoying success with The West, the band's first album for the Dandy Warhols' Beat the World label.

- Mike Breen Citybeat

The feature film "The Legend of God's Gun" was officialy released on July 29th 2008.

Listen for Spindrift's song Indian Run in Quentin Tarantino's new movie entitled Hell Ride released August 6th 2008.

Jay Souza has been carrying around those lonesome songs inside his heart since his
mom — whose great-great-grandfather was first cousin to Irish poet William Butler
Yeats — sent him a present of three cassettes that he played incessantly — Johnny
Cash, Neil Diamond and the Carpenters.

The Boston-born singer-songwriter, who has lived in L.A. since 1990, has exhibited
qualities of all three in his music, first in his band 50 Cent Haircut, and now alongside
the same musicians in Patrolled by Radar (guitarists Bosco Sheff and Bryan “BC”
Coulter and bassist Bryan “Reno” Stone), with a timeless, narrative style that takes its
cue from classic Americana roots: equal parts folk, rock, country, blues and soul. Their
Knitting Factory debut, Be Happy, will sit comfortably in your collection alongside
such contemporary acts as Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers.

Produced by Los Straitjackets member Peter Curry in his Culver City Powow Fun
Room studio the old-fashioned way, with the veteran ensemble showing how years
on the L.A. scene has solidified them as a band, Be Happy could well be termed songs
for the New Depression, with songs like “Widow Next Door” and “Dressed for the
Drought” telling stories that could have taken place at any point during the last two
centuries, as sung by troubadours such as Bob Dylan, Kris Kristofferson, Ray Davies or
Townes Van Zandt. Still others reflect the many tales Souza hears on his day job as a
bartender or as a musician, including the Irish feel of “Carried Away,” written from the
point of view of a soldier serving in the Middle East; the classic country lament “Coat
of Disappointment,” about losing someone to illness; or “Fast Life Slow Death,” in
which he tried to put himself in the head of his dying dad, who would never live to
hear it. Elsewhere, Souza and Patrolled by Radar show themselves equally capable of
creating the lush pop choruses of the Beatlesque title track, the slinky sexual double
entendre rockabilly blues in “Walking” (“The first verse is about Adolf Hitler and the
second, Johnny Cash,” he explains), the whimsical psychedelic folk of the Babar the
Elephant-inspired “Pachyderm,” or even full-throttle rock and roll, which comes across
loud and clear in the anthemic (and aptly named) “New Fight Song.”

“I try to write stuff that I would like to listen to myself,” says Souza, whose passion
for playing started when he was a 15-year-old in the Boston punk band Boys
Life, whose influences included Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, the Jam and the
Clash. “There has to be some infectious underpinning to it. I like great melodies that
surprise you, going to places that you might not have expected, but are ultimately
satisfying. I love great records made by great writers.”

Music has been Souza’s refuge ever since his mother split when he was five, leaving
him to be raised by his truck-driver father and an extended working-class clan that
had little appreciation for the arts. “Music was her gift from afar,” he says of the
three well-worn tapes she left him. “She was very creative, but the rest of my family

wasn’t.”

Unable to afford college, Jay enlisted in the Army, putting himself through Bridgewater
College in Massachusetts. After graduation, he dabbled in public relations, then
decided to pursue music in L.A., putting out a solo album, Face for Radio, in 1996,
and two years later forming 50 Cent Haircut, whose eponymous debut was recorded in
one take at Cal State. The band quickly found the Sunset Strip scene a depressing rat
race, but soon discovered other local venues that were more hospitable. They released
a series of albums in the process, including Brood or Change (2002) and Shadow of
the Noose (2007). In all, Souza has penned more than 150 individual songs, while his
band has played over 1,000 shows, opening for the likes of one of his idols, the Kinks,
as well as the late country legend Porter Wagoner with Marty Stuart just four months
before Wagoner’s death.

“The live thing is insane,” laughs Jay. “We’re a fine band to see. My guys are just
ridiculous. It’s dynamic, but still song-oriented, and different every time.”

The band had the closing song in two of the three MGM/Sony Walking Tall movies,
with two of the tracks on Be Happy heard on the TNT show Men of a Certain Age,
where they were placed by noted music supervisor Gary Calamar.

“I’m proud of the depth of my catalog. I love that I can look back on our stuff and not
cringe,” Souza says, in typical understated fashion, his own harshest critic. “That’s
pretty amazing for me.”

That attention to craft can be heard throughout Be Happy, which will be released
under the name Patrolled by Radar because Souza got tired getting confused with
rapper 50 Cent. Knitting Factory CEO Morgan Margolis, remembering the band’s
yearlong residency at the Hollywood club, was so impressed with Be Happy he offered
not only to manage them, but release the album on his label. It’s a story that could
have come straight from one of Souza’s own songs, based on real life.

“The whole record was meant to be like that,” says Souza. “I wanted it to be rich in
melody, dynamism and nuance. I’ll rewrite the words over and over until the allusion
is just right. I try to make it less literal and more poetic. There’s always a better way
to say something.”

Be Happy is a rather ironic title, given some of the grim stories Souza recounts
in “Dressed for the Drought,” “Coat of Disappointment,” “Fast Life Slow Death”
and “Carried Away.”

“I see people having a hard time. It’s a strange time we’re in. The haves and have-
nots are being drawn together in a way that’s weird,” he says, though he’s finally
seeing light at the end of the tunnel. It could just be that Jay Souza’s own story is
headed for a Be Happy ending.