The Marias
Listening to bilingual dream pop band the Marias is like being presented with a soundtrack to the weirdest second hand store you ever went home and told your friends about. Everything is vintage and stacked next to, under, on top of, and all around more dusty treasures — just an overflowing jumble of the old but not forgotten. The L.A. group, which only includes one Maria (their Puerto Rican-born, Atlanta-raised, one-named frontwoman) has only been around a couple of years, but both of their EPs, Superclean volumes one and two, sound like a seasoned band of middle aged fogeys with at least a half dozen other releases already turning up in thrift store crates.
Their recent single for “Clueless” unfolds a retro groove like something you’d find on a moldy old K-Tel funk compilation. Any ten second passage would be perfect for sampling in a campy late night TV ad aimed at stoners in between rolling joints and raiding the fridge. For an idea of what to expect when they take the Irenic stage on February 15, there’s not a lot of live footage online, although I did spot a few clips from concerts in Chicago and L.A. that indicate Maria is as hypnotic onstage as she sounds on tape. An hour-long Indonesia concert on YouTube showcases her languid, liquid stage presence, akin to likeminded cinematic pop purveyors such as Lana Del Rey. The band, however, looks as if they all bought their anachronistic stage outfits at one of those aforementioned thrift stores.