
Seattle surf rock revivalists La Luz are lucky to be alive. Just this past November, on the way home after a gig in Boise, the band was involved in a serious car wreck. Their van was totaled and their gear ruined. Luckily, the band members incurred relatively minor injuries. Undeterred, La Luz recouped and is now back out on the road.
“We’re doin’ alright,” La Luz guitarist Shana Cleveland says via email. “It feels great to be back on the road. All the shows have been super fun and I’m hanging out on a curb in sunny Southern California right now wearing shorts in January so I cannot complain at all.”
La Luz is touring in support of the band’s 2013 release, the surf-a-delic It’s Alive (on Hardly Art records). On the album, the thin and wiry riffs influenced by The Ventures cascade over driving percussion, melodic organ solos and the atmospheric and moody vocals a la Nancy Sinatra. “Now I kinda wanna die,” Cleveland sings on the album’s opening track “Sure as Spring,” “It’s the truest way to know that I’m alive.”
“Can’t really deny the surf moniker when about a fifth of our songs are straight-up surf instrumentals,” Cleveland says. “I think it’s as good of a box to be put in as any.” Rightly or wrongly, an all-female surf rock band faces some uncharted terrain; Cleveland doesn’t mind. “We were pretty into the idea of keeping it all girls,” she says. “Makes it easier to share clothes and do each others nails,” she jokes, “and have scantily clad pillow fights ‘n’ shit!”
Behavior Castle presents La Luz with Egotones and Snow White 8 pm Monday, Feb. 3, at 543 Blair Blvd.; $5.
A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,
The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.
That’s because of you!
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Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.
We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.
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None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.
As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.
Thank you for standing with us!

Publisher
Eugene Weekly
P.S. If you’d like to talk about supporting EW, I’d love to hear from you!
jody@eugeneweekly.com
(541) 484-0519