pepe california - born sleepy

where did i hear this? probably listening to the noise in my head radio show.

around 2015 a guy named michael cukr made a series of soft focus portraits of pro skaters and surfers for a probably defunct journal called what youth. while the interviews therein offered mainly banal insights into charmed lives, cukr's music choices and cinematography made a lasting impression (some of scott gilmore's carefree music from the andrew allen episode would later be reissued by l.a. conglomerate in sheep's clothing). certain establishing shots stick out in my mind, ten years on, though i have revisited these a few times: the hazy ventura cityscape (curren caples), the view of the port and smokestacks from long beach (collin provost), the orange county suburban developments (andrew allen), the melancholic november dusks over glendale (kevin terpening) and san pedro (ronnie sandoval).

one of glenn donaldson's many projects is called fwy!, and features his inimitibly emotive guitar over a variety of drum machine rhythms, from plodding to charging, probably meant to mimic traffic flows, as each tune is named after a california city or freeway.

i have also looked at several issues of popeye (or maybe brutus) over the years that profess to be guides to southern california for the japanese tourist. pages and pages of people looking satisfied and put together, tending to their cafe or plant shop, and the lighting is always perfect. truly makes you want to enjoy your life and i am not being sarcastic. i'm a millenial.

some amount of this is illusion, and lots of replenishing money, but i have seen some really positive people in dana point for example. there's a tenniscoats album called 'healthy in california'. like pepe california, they are japanese, and their particular visions and projections are factors.

the music on this 7" is pretty similar to fwy!, if i had to compare it to something. feels like moving in a car, motorik, and the melody has a refreshing bluster, like cool light fog from the ocean in the sun. the cover art could be a t-shirt, like the one los apson? sells that just says "pacific ocean".

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condition: vg+/vg+