Californian psych-pop unit SMILING share sun-drenched « Lighthouse » video; new album out August 6 on Rebel Waves Records.

San Diego shoegaze and psych-pop rockers SMILING (formerly Annie Girl and The Flight) share a sun-drenched and intriguing new video taken from their upcoming debut on Rebel Waves Records. Start your summer the right way with « Lighthouse », premiering exclusively on It’s Psychedelic Baby Mag!

SMILING is the electric brainchild of guitarist, singer and songwriter Annie Shaw. From the mile-high city of Denver and now based in Los Angeles, after a detour to Haight Ashbury and San Francisco, the band started off in 2015 under the name of Annie Girl and the Flightand did several tours of the USA and Canada, including two tours supporting Against Me! Recorded at the now-defunct Dock Studios in Sacramento, where Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall undertook much of their output, ‘Devour’ brims with warm psychedelic overtones, interleaved guitars and violins, Annie Shaw’s caressing layered vocals, sitting somewhere between the moody shoegaze intonations of My Bloody Valentine and the noisier impulse of Fugazi.

? Watch Smiling’s new video « Lighthouse » at this location ?

About this new video, Annie Shaw comments: « Lighthouseis an ode to divine timing and intuition. It’s about going with the flow and allowing destiny to unfold. There are sharks in the water but if you let the waves take you home they will. That’s what happens to my friend Jack, the Alien protagonist in the video. I used to make short films as a kid. I’m happy to be at it again, having a good time with friends, making art. We really did have fun. We ate mushrooms on our biggest shoot day and laughed a lot. I think some of that silly psychedelic energy comes through. It was liberating to do this DIY. I shot it on my iPhone and edited it myself. I’m going to keep making short films, building the Smiling universe. I also just scored the upcoming feature Laguna Ave with my friend Josh Menashe (Frankie and the Witch Fingers) under our joint moniker Premium Destiny. All to say, film is my other passion and I’m very glad to be back at it. » 

Their debut album ‘Devour’ will be issued on limited colored vinyl and black vinyl, CD and digital on August 6th through Rebel Waves Records. SMILING previously released a video for « Forgetful Sam », which you can view at this location.

Debut album ‘Devour’
Out August 6th on Rebel Waves Records

SMILING is the electric brainchild of performer, composer, songwriter, guitarist and vocalist, Annie Shaw originally from Denver CO,  and now based in San Diego, CA after a detour to Haight Ashbury and San Francisco. She started playing piano at age three,  guitar at ten and started her first band in second grade. Smiling started off in 2015 under the name of Annie Girl and the Flight and did several tours of the USA and Canada two tours opening for Against Me! In 2016, she headed into the studio with longtime cohort Josh Pollock on guitar and the rhythm section of Mark Nelson (Bass) and Sonny Pearce (drums). “I wrote all the songs on Devour, but I am starting to do more co-writes. Josh Pollock and I have played for a long time together and have a natural way of harmonically moving around one another. Josh also happens to be a guitar wizard and has a pedalboard the size of a small country. He can make sounds with a guitar I’ve never heard anywhere else and he shreds.”

When the songs were ready and fully gig tested, SMILING went into the studio with engineer and co-producer John Baccigaluppi (7 Seconds, Sea of Bees, Little Wings). Then they recorded at the now-defunct Dock Studios in Sacramento, CA where Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall tracked a lot of their output. Baccigaluppi and Shaw then spent several months on fleshing out overdubs and vocals for the albums in a spaced-out series of shorter sessions at the famed Hyde Street studio D in San Francisco, CA where Creedence Clearwater tracked some of their classic songs and at Coyote Hearing in Oakland, CA where violinist and vocalist Sivan Lioncub (Everyone is Dirty) added a fifth layer of textures to several songs. The album was mixed by Joe Finocchio (Soft White Sixties, Country Club) at Panoramic House Studio in West Marin, CA. 

With its psychedelic overtones, interleaved guitars and violins, and layered melodic vocals, SMILING on Devour sits somewhere in-between Fugazi and My Bloody Valentine. Besides Smiling, Annie keeps busy with several other projects, Book of Eyes who are working on a book to accompany their acoustic music, Premium Destiny her dream pop and film scoring entity with Josh Menashe (Frankie & The Witch Fingers) who recently scored the film Laguna Ave, and Thirst, an electronic pop project with co-producer Harper. Music will always be her north star and SMILING allows her the space to crank up, tune in, and blast off.

SMILING links
Website⎪Instagram⎪Spotify

REBEL WAVES RECORDS links
Facebook⎪Bandcamp⎪Instagram⎪Shop

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