If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Devonte Johnson Hailing from Los Angeles, Draag make music that can best be described as shoegaze, although that's not completely accurate. Their latest single, "Orb Weaver," has that dreamy sound associated with shoegaze, but Draag take the genre off in their own direction. The guitars sound warped, and it's more of a small wave of sound brushing against your legs than the typical overpowering wave most shoegaze artists use. "Orb Weaver" takes the forty or so year old genre and moves it forward, and also a little bit to the left. Adrian Acosta says of his band's latest single: “Jess [Huang] and I go on night walks in our neighborhood often, probably because there’s no one around and we are obsessed with the eerie nostalgic quality of empty neighborhoods.  One summer, it was very hard to walk without running into a big orb weaver web. I have a severe fear of spiders. I used the night walks as a form of therapy but it got me in a fearful state in...

Photo by Devonte Johnson Los Angeles' Draag was formed by trained mariachi singer Adrian Acosta who forme the band from members with backgrounds in underground punk, No Wave, experimental jazz, and classical training. Their new single, "Demonbird," reflects all of those styles in a sound that's being called electro-shoegaze. This new song has more intensity than you would normally associate with shoegaze. It's a synth heavy, relatively fast punk song that's awash in the drone of shoegaze. Draag have made this swirling sonic fury that can be kind of a mess at times, but I mean that as a compliment. It's not completely outrageous, but we haven't heard anything quite like this before. Not everyone is going to love "Demonbird," but if it works for you it's going to lead to a die hard fandom. Frontwoman Jessica Huang says of the new song and video: “‘Demonbird’ was a major breakthrough in my personal journey unpacking spiritual abuse in my pas...