Strawberry Girls’ “Vanilla Rainforest” wades through a cacophony of modular effects and sizzling laser beams. Then comes an eruption of harmonic guitar riffage casting spacey shadows of Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return to Forever. The anthemic instrumental seamlessly shifts into speedy guitar soloing with an epic prog rock glow that’s anchored by machine-gun drums. It could be the soundtrack to an interplanetary war between alien spacecrafts playing out in the oblivion of deep space.
And this is just the first single off the trio’s 2017 full-length release, Italian Ghosts. From there, Strawberry Girls’ Zac Garren (guitar), Ben Rosett (drums) and Ian Jennings (bass) continue doing what they do best: churning out atmospheric instrumental rock with a dramatic twist.
They also toss in some occasional, but welcome, curve balls, including cosmic covers of Kendrick Lamar’s “Swimming Pools” and The Weeknd’s “Starboy.”
While Strawberry Girls have been showcasing new music from Italian Ghosts, buddies/sometime-collaborators The Modern Life have been lying low over the last six months, as far as performing live gigs goes.
However, Marcus Wade (drums, lead and backup vocals), Earl Salindo (guitar, keyboards, lead and backup vocals), Jonathan Esteban (guitar and vocals) and Alec Anthony James (bass and guitar) have been working in seclusion – pretty much nonstop – on their full-length debut.
“We’re expecting a release in February or March of 2018,” says Wade, who’s editing, recording and producing the record. “We want to play one last time this year to showcase our new sound and material.”
One of the group’s recent tunes that will appear on the forthcoming record, “Marie Annette,” mastered by Strawberry Girls’ Rosett at Spirit Vision Studios in Carmel, represents The Modern Life’s perpetually evolving sound. The Salinas natives have added neo-soul harmonies to their dedicated mix of shoegazer-meets-post punk-meets-early ’90s alt rock.
After a listen, all you can think is, “More, please.” Zealousy, an alt-funk band from Salinas, opens.
Strawberry Girls’ (from left) Zac Garren, Ben Rosett and Ian Jennings describe their 2015 American Graffiti as “darker, weirder” - and, sometimes, “poppier” - than their previous work.
STRAWBERRY GIRLS, THE MODERN LIFE and ZEALOUSY 9pm Friday, Dec. 22. Casa Sorrento Pizzaria, 393 Salinas St., Salinas. $5 (21+). 757-2720.
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