LA’s Velvet Starlings have revealed a new track, “She Said.”  The track is taken from their forthcoming debut album, Technicolour Shakedown, out September 29 via Sound x 3 Records, with the vinyl release by Kitten Robot in the US.  Like the album the song highlights their ability to fuse 60s garage rock ‘n’ roll into a sound that is all their own. The band is led by Christian Gisborne and he shares, “The song combines our love of  60’s Doors signature style organ riffs. But quickly takes a left turn into a frenzied ‘beach fuzz’ garage punk territory.   It tells a tale of instant attraction, coupled with the excitement, energy and adrenaline of ‘cutting a rug’ on the sweaty dance floor of a California house party going til dawn and watching sun coming up across the bay.”

Hailing from Los Angeles and the beach cities of Southern California, Velvet Starlings was founded by guitarist and organ player Christian Gisborne. And while known for his concert attendance record and impressive Lego collection, it is his musical prowess as a performer, writer, recording artist and producer that is putting him on the map. Gisborne not only tracked all of the instruments, but also engineered, mixed and produced the LP –  in the middle of his living room. While it reflects influences that range from early Jack White, to Thee Oh Sees to Arctic Monkeys, the album showcases Velvet Starlings own take on neo-60’s-garage – best described as beach-fuzz-psych with a big cheeky nod to the UK Invasion. 

Technicolour Shakedown is the follow up to 2019’s EP Love Everything, Love Everyone. Christian – who turned 18 in May – released his debut self-titled EP Velvet Starlings when he was 15. Both EP’s charted in the top 5 at Specialty Radio and hit #1 on KROQ’s “Locals Only.” Gisborne also caught the attention of, among others, BBC Radio, Shepard Fairey, and The Kinks’ Dave Davies who all count themselves as fans of Velvet Starlings.  
Speaking about the album Gisborne says “in the doom and gloom of Covid I found myself reminiscing all the time about the days when we would wait in line for hours to see our favorite bands. The songs on the first album reflect everything I felt I was missing out on.”    

With a bevvy of new songs written and ready to unleash, Gisborne was craving the comradery of a band. He turned to brothers Foster and Hudson Poling who play drums and bass respectively. They first met in line outside of a 2019 Cage The Elephant show and, discovering a shared love of The Who and SpongeBob, quickly found themselves making a plan to meet up at a rehearsal space to jam. Gisborne had previously used session musicians to augment his live set but as his friendship with the Polings grew, so did his realization that they were the perfect fit for this new era of Velvet Starlings. 

Looking to 2021 and beyond Christian says, “I think a Rock n Roll renaissance is coming after this crazy year of lock down. We’re hoping that a full front-to-back of Technicolour Shakedown will evoke the feeling you get at a rock n roll house party – wherever the listener may find themself.”

Photo Courtesy: Megan Blanchard