Every year, new artists emerge, ready to be Los Angeles’ next great musical discovery, making their rounds through small club tours across the city. Inspired by the hippie enclaves of Topanga, the backyard punk scene of East Los Angeles or the coastal grunge of Venice Beach, each act has its own distinct sound. This week, A&E; columnist Kristy Pirone discusses The Diamond Light, a band that embodies the spirit of Laurel Canyon’s rock ‘n’ roll history.
While many people, infamously including KISS’ Gene Simmons, believe that the days of rock ‘n’ roll are over, bands like The Diamond Light serve as the last bastion for a dying art form – authentic rock music.
Coming off a successful Monday night residency at The Satellite in November, The Diamond Light will return to the Silver Lake mainstay Friday for a headlining show.
The Diamond Light originated in rural New Hampshire, with drummer Ian Ochs and vocalist and guitarist Griffin Young growing up listening to Ochs’ father’s blues band, the Blues Busters, and playing in biker bars. After meeting bassist and vocalist Brian Stanley in high school, the band moved to Los Angeles in 2007.
“(Brian) was a year ahead of us and he was going to school out here, so we figured (we could) either stay in New Hampshire and do nothing or come to California and start over,” Young said.
The band’s self-titled debut album was released in 2012, a late ’60s-influenced romp complete with catchy riffs and enough energy to fill a stadium. The LP was recorded entirely in Laurel Canyon, a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills between the San Fernando Valley and West Hollywood. Laurel Canyon was home to some of the 1960s’ most influential rock artists including the Byrds and Jim Morrison.
The Laurel Canyon music scene experienced a revival in 2012, with a new generation feeling a connection to the same spirit that inspired Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young to first unite in the canyon and drew Frank Zappa’s log cabin, where Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger partied the night away.
“There’s just something up in that canyon,” said Griffin Young. “So many artists were pumped out of there, like Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, and you just sort of feel it while you’re there.”
Outside of the canyon, Griffin Young cited Neil Young and Jeff Buckley as classic influences for the band’s sound, which can be heard clearly in songs like “Ballad of a Slowman” and “Strong Wind South” that share Neil Young’s slow-burn rock sensibilities and Buckley’s blues-inspired sound.
Griffin Young also mentioned current L.A. legends Queens of the Stone Age and Rage Against the Machine as musical inspirations, with The Diamond Light’s tracks like “Screaming Through These Halls” and “Three Days” resembling the concert-ready, energetic rock of their predecessors.
It’s no wonder that The Diamond Light finds inspiration in Queens of the Stone Age and Rage Against the Machine, as these veteran bands are considered some of the only current musical acts to possess the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll that The Diamond Light embodies so well.
While the genre has fractured into any number of subgenres from glam-rock to pop-rock, few current bands have embodied classic rock ‘n’ roll quite like these new L.A. staples.
After playing throughout Los Angeles at classic venues including The Echo and The Troubadour, releasing its first EP in 2010 and its debut album in 2012, The Diamond Light has settled in Echo Park.
“It’s cool because we can sort of jam in a city setting,” Young said. “Depending on where you are, each (Los Angeles neighborhood) has its own vibe and you sort of soak it in whether you mean to or not.”
The band has certainly picked up some of the chiller vibes in its new EP “Tianna Rd.“ On first glance, the band’s sound was virtually unrecognizable. I spent about 15 minutes on Google verifying that it was, indeed, the same The Diamond Light who released songs like “Ballad of a Slowman” and “Oklahoma ’47” only two years before. These earlier tracks were classic rock-infused songs that could’ve been pulled out of “Almost Famous” or a 1960s rock club.
But the band’s new sound is stellar. The three songs on “Tianna Rd” are enhanced by background harmonies, strong lyrics and piano melodies that transport the listener. Blues influences that were present on later releases are even more prominent on the EP, and spiritual references throughout the songs make listening to songs like “My Hollow Head” feel almost like a religious experience.
Whether channeling Neil Young or slowing it down with its new blues-inspired sounds, The Diamond Light brings a new energy and spirit to music that is lacking from many rock artists today, and it has the ability to fill any room with a full, soul-lifting sound.