Ice Level

2012 release from the Brooklyn-based Indie band. Ava Luna is the rare band that needs to be heard to be believed. In the band's hazy, floaty, post-TV-On-The-Radio-maybe conceit, post-punk grooves, soaring soul harmonies and classic indie detachment join forces for something beautiful, infectious and damn-near indescribable. The twisted brainchild of Carlos Hernandez, the son of a soul DJ and occasional producer of bands like Fucked Up, Ava Luna is the sum of a lot of somehow congruous parts. The minimal drums/bass/synth lineup kicks out the most skeletal of Ze Records-era post-punk/nu-funk; a chorus made up of three backing singers add a razor-sharp doo-wop lilt; the sweat-soaked Hernandez is up front stirring soul like Jamie Liddell or a James Chance for the Misshapes age.