Like a lot of folks, I’m an avid listener of music. A few years back, my then-co-worker, still friend Chris and I had a conversation that more-or-less started with The Byrds (a band sadly overlooked by a great deal of my generation, most likely due to the historically great but tremendously overplayed “Turn, Turn, Turn! [To Everything There Is A Season]“) and ended-up touching on several other bands and genres, as it so often does. We were both immense fans of the quintessential San Diego instrumental band Tristeza, especially “Dream Signals In Full Circles,” “Spine and Sensory,” etc., which inextricably came up in conversation via the keywords “psychedelic” and “melodic.” Chris then said, “What about Languis?”

I’d never heard them in any of their various line-ups and sonic configurations, so my first introduction to the “Other Desert Cities” EP was completely blind. First listen, I was hooked — it was like the psychedelic tambourine jangle of The Byrds mixed with the shoegaze sound I’m so often drawn to. For an EP, it’s a truncated but complete idea — it starts strong and meanders through a beautiful wash of dense pop melodies, leaving you simultaneously satiated and yearning. Personal highlights include “I Forgot, I Forgot” and “City of Lights.” Highly recommended. Beautiful psychedelic, melodic music.

Languis “Other Desert Cities” EP on iTunes
Languis “Times Are Changing” Video on YouTube