Lately, there has been a lot of hype around the desert. Places like Joshua Tree, Big Sur, and Marfa, Texas are popular destination spots for a lot of people who like posting pictures on the internet about what they are doing and wearing and eating. I don’t blame them, though—because the desert seriously rules and you might even say that the desert is really hot right now. I made a short trip to the desert last month, and had the realization that the best thing about going to the desert is making a playlist to listen to in the car as you surround yourself with a vast #nofilter open space filled with dry dirt, cacti, and rocks.
I wish I had known about La Hell Gang during my recent trip, because this would have been the only thing played in my car during the drive. The band’s bio nails their aesthetic: “Imagine a still oasis on man-made Martian desert, saturated with rust and red clay.” The trio hail from Santiago, Chile—which is one of the cooler places to be from if you are a psychedelic 60s-influenced rock band. They also apparently recorded their previous (and debut) album, Just What Is Real in one day completely analogue, using an old Vox guitar and “one of the first pedals in history.” If that’s not the raddest thing ever, I don’t know what is. They make music that makes me want to float around the desert in a space suit and somehow not be too hot while riding a motorcycle and then blow it up as I walk away in slow motion and then somehow be wearing short shorts and a lot of suede fringe as I dance in slow motion in a cloud of desert dust. In short, it’s a really big feel.
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Noisey is stoked to be premiering the band’s first single “Sweet Dear” off of their upcoming album, Thru Me Again, out in the US June 24 (July 21 in EU) via Mexican Summer.