st. croix - family of the year

so, as a gen-xer growing up in southern california, there was only one place to go for alternative or indie music - KROQ. it was, in its heyday, the granddaddy of all excellent music - plenty of bands that regular radio either shunned or never had heard of. you weren't going to hear def leppard or madonna here - nope, instead you got the smiths, sugarcube and the cult.



it was awesome.



over the years, KROQ became...less than what it once was. it stopped being edgy and interesting in its musical selection. metallica, sublime (WHY, GOD, WHY?!?) and the offspring entered the rotation and...NEVER. EVER. WENT. AWAY. listening to KROQ today is like listening to the KROQ of two years ago. or five years ago. or, hell, ten. i turned it on the other day in the car just to see if there was anything to write home about and MY GOD it was the same stupid crap as always.



so i turned it off.



HOWEVER. as trite as KROQ has become over the years, it does have options for music aficionados looking for something other than *shudder* sublime (damn, i'm so shamed that one came from my home town). for one, rodney on the roq is still alive and kicking (although relegated to the dead of night). dude knows his tunes, is what i have to say. and there's also a program called locals only, which highlights - um - local, socal bands.



and i like that. because southern california has lots of interesting music to offer.



case in point, family of the year, who have been featured and ranked on locals only. the band, who actually come from as far away as wales and florida and as close as the OC, have a very nouveau-americana sound that mixes pop and folk in a really likable way.







in advance of their upcoming new EP, family of the year has released st. croix, and utterly affable, summery tune. give it a listen:



you bring the ocean

i bring the motion

together we'll make a love potion

you bring the ocean

i bring the motion

dancing all night in slow motion



St. Croix by Family of the Year



here they are, performing st. croix at a locals only show at the roxy:







want to see family of the year live? check out one of the following dates:



9/6 – San Francisco, CA @ Independent*

9/7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour*

9/8 – Phoenix, AZ @ Martini Ranch*

9/9 – Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Café*

9/10 – Bakersfield, CA @ B Ryders*

9/25 – Venice, CA @ Abbot Kinney Festival

9/28 – Portland, OR @ Group Love#

9/30 – Seattle, WA @ The Vera Project#

10/1 – Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl#



* = w/ VIVA Brother



# = w/ Grouplove



the st. croix EP will be released on september 27th via tinyOGRE entertainment.