'Let Me Die in Southern California'

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about Southern California. I grew up there and as we sometimes do, I took it for granted. I spent 30-some years there and missed a lot. In my mind, I’ve missed living there, but I doubt the reality matches my memories. And barring some drastic change in economics (the U.S.’s; California’s; mine), I doubt I would move back there anytime soon.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been back there at all, and those trips had been for deaths of family members, so not really vacations. Due to the modern wonder of the Internet, I've recently reconnected with some old friends who still live there and I’ve also made a couple of new friends out there, so I plan on going out for a real visit sometime in the next few months.

That all said, it was by virtue of its title alone that The Voyces’ new song, “Let Me Die in Southern California,” caught my eye when it hit my inbox the other day. I’ve listened to the song several times since – it’s undeniably catchy, with a hummable tune. More than that, it seems to have an underlying darkness: “Those big bright lights that sometimes seem so pretty / Lose every bit of allure / When you feel the weight of the world.”

I think every good California song should be about either mindless summertime fun (i.e. almost all old Beach Boys songs), or about the decay behind the façade (i.e. almost all Eagles songs). The Voyces, who are originally from Southern California have come up with a classic in the vein of “California Dreaming,” complete with beautiful harmonies and visions of the sun setting over PCH as trash and bodies rot in ditches alongside the highway.

“Let Me Die in Southern California” is the first single from their upcoming album of the same name. The disk will be out September 28 on Planting Seeds/Darla Records. For more info, check The Voyces’ MySpace.

Let Me Die in Southern California.mp3

Labels: folk, new stuff, singles

posted by aikin @ 12:27 PM