Best Gift Ever - Los Tienes
BEST GIFT EVER RELEASE DAZZLING 'LO TIENES'
From Oceanside, California, pop-punk/post-punk outfit Best Gift Ever released a scrummy new album, called Lo Tienes (You Got It), a short time ago.
Best Gift Ever
Describing the band’s sound as pop-punk, or post-punk doesn’t adequately define their innovative sound, which incorporates elements of hip-hop, pop, punk, dream-pop, and even tints of surf rock into tantalizing music.
The album encompasses nine-tracks, beginning with “Tryna find an in,” which opens on slowly strumming guitars, gleaming and resonant, and then shifts harmonic gears, flowing into a pop-punk-lite melody flavored with hints of surf rock.
Speaking subjectively, the best tracks include “Sick,” a grungy, meandering punk-flavored tune traveling on raw, keening tones. A luminous breakdown leads to dirty dream-pop-like textures, simultaneously haunting and alluring.
“Beware the gift” rides glossy colors full of glowing surfaces, as tight strident vocals infuse the lyrics with singeing timbres, adding imminent urgency. The flow of this tune is bewitching. “Leaves” features light trolling guitars segueing to a shimmering, driving energy. There’s an alt-country suggestion to this track, making it magnetically attractive.
“Chill Air,” one of my personal favorites, blends savors of dream-pop with cloudy post-punk coloration into deliciously smooth, undulating sonic textures. I love the bassline on this track, pulsing with thick clots of muscle, while the iridescent, almost psychedelic guitars imbue the tune with elusive snaking hues.
Candidly, all the tracks on Los Tienes are aesthetically gratifying, delivering cashmere textures, along with raw frazzled infusions. I really like this album, simply because of its fresh individuality, unlike the derivative mish-mash currently so prevalent.
Impressed with their sound, I decided to interview Best Gift Ever.
How did the band get together?
The band first got together in the spring of 2016 with the purpose of just jamming on the weekends to get away from life as a marine.
What’s the backstory there?
I had been slowly building a studio in my garage making hip-hop beats and producing for some friends of mine but that just wasn’t scratching the itch. I was active duty at the time so I started searching for other marines that would be willing to jam with me, and over the course of a year I was able to assemble our current lineup of musicians. I had a few guitars and amps, a “Frankenstein” drum set I built spending 80 dollars for parts on letgo, an old ‘90s 16-track analog mixer, 4 mics, a Scarlet, and Ableton. I recorded all of our sessions with the purpose of sampling, and that quickly turned to producing full-fledged tracks.
Who’s in the band and what instruments do they play?
Ferdinand “Ferd” Ortiz – Drums, Keys. Jack “Lucky” Leckemby – Bass. Turner “TJ” Korotzer – Guitar. Eric “Huck” Huckaby – Guitar. Eric “Cire” Juarez – Vocals, Guitar, Production. Vivian “K1TT13” Juarez – Vocals.
Candidly, all the tracks on Los Tienes are aesthetically gratifying, delivering cashmere textures, along with raw frazzled infusions.
Who is your favorite music artist?
Our favorite artists vary greatly between us. Some notable artists are Mars Water, Twin Peaks, The Strokes, Yo la Tengo, Deftones, Nujabes, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Linkin Park, Linda Ronstadt, and Best Gift Ever.
What musicians influenced you the most?
Being the producer I would say that I do have an unprecedented hand in how our music is influenced, one of my major influences in mixing and producing a track is Nujabes, but when it comes to vocals I take most of my influence from Jim Morrison of The Doors or Chino Moreno of Deftones, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, and Linda Rondstadt.
What are you listening to right now?
I mainly blast our own music, I have a library of our music that I like to listen too. Only very few of our songs see the light of day. If I’m not jamming Best Gift Ever I’m usually jamming some lo-fi hip-hop.
Why did you name the band ‘Best Gift Ever?’
I’m actually not sure, we had a few names before Best Gift Ever and we kept changing our name every other week. Eventually I just stopped editing the name…
Is your music, your sound, evolving? If so, in what direction?
I would describe it like this, every session sounds different than anything before; we capture that moment and move on.
Where has the band played?
Nowhere yet.
What was the inspiration for Lo Tienes?
This album was more for us, we wanted something we can jam to, something we can listen to and bump, something that expressed who we were when the tracks where recorded, a capture of the moment.
What is your songwriting process? Lyrics first or music first?
Jam, I record entire jam sessions and all of our songs are usually completed in one to two tries, we just jam on something, vibe with it and play. After our jam sessions I will usually isolate good “sessions,” give it a little bit of mixing, then add some vocals on top, if I didn’t already do them during the jam. I don’t dwell much on mixing and mastering. That would defeat the purpose of our sound.
What’s next for you musically?
Keep on jamming! Keeping on putting out albums for the community!
We would like to expand and start playing at places, we just haven’t made that stride yet.
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