Light Fantastic

Light Fantastic

Out Of View

Spiritual Pajamas

“You can either take a dreamy glide on the waves of the PacificOcean or you can let the waves engulf you... either way your senses take in something that’s not unlike the sparkling music and voices of Light Fantastic. “The sophisticated yet innocent jangle of their debut long player Out of View on the Spiritual Pajamas label is a fresh neighbor to the trippy head music for which San Francisco is usually known. But somehow it lives quite happily in the midst of giant Redwoods, the thick cold waters of the foggy coast, or the laid back urgency of a late night out in the Mission with your head in the clouds. From The Fillmore to The Whisky a Go Go, to The Hacienda in Manchester, the ten songs on this album work as a sort of View-Master / time machine... ‘feels like I’ve been here before’… and you wanna stay for a while and smile. “Terry Sowers, chief songwriter armed with his trusty Rickenbacker six-string and melancholy vocal / lyric delivery, powers the Light Fantastic. Bassman Jeremy Bringetto hooks you in with his super melodic but well-rounded bass lines while Rachel Hoiem twinkles and pads the songs with her keyboards and harmonies. Recording mastermind Rex Shelverton and his colorful guitar comes through like a lighthouse in heavy fog, lighting the way for the group and Terry’s tunes to take you on a trip.This ain’t what you call surf rock but you’ll find these guys out on every swell. And...

Light Fantastic

S/t

Spiritual Pajamas

When we first met the man behind Light Fantastic, Terry Sowers was singing harmonies and playing guitar in the Farmer Dave Scher band. His introduction to the stage was a diving-head-first experience, playing alongside one of his musical heroes as support for acts like Jenny and Johnny and Conor Oberst. However, Sowers was also sitting on a treasure chest of his own songs, fine-tuning a sound he’d developed for years, mostly alone, in his Victorian apartment in San Francisco. Teaming up with Jeremy Bringetto (Vue, Bellavista, Tamaryn), the two worked this set of bedroom pop sketches into what can be described as a modern take on California—as much Southern California as an expression of the Bay Area. This dreamy, surfy shoegaze views an age of innocence through the idyllic lens of reflection and personal nostalgia, like the pure, happy memories of a long-lost love. It’s no surprise that the songs’ author hails from the hot suburbs of Los Angeles and that his compositions string together a sincere sense of personal displacement and longing for home. When Sowers and Bringetto brought their song ideas to Rex Shelverton, who was in the midst of producing Tamaryn’s latest album, a strange but harmonious union was born of light and dark. Shelverton’s homegrown version of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound was the perfect compliment to songs that evoked Laurel Canyon, Carol Kaye and mid-’60s Brian Wilson California optimism. The Light Fantastic EP is sunny, hopeful and dreamy, and even in its darkest moments aims...