Sunday, Nov. 14: Gardens and Villa

Le Voyeur Cafe and Lounge

By Jason Baxter on November 11, 2010

Gardens and Villa hail from sunny Santa Barbara, Calif. They have brightly-colored vinyl deckchairs for a MySpace background. Band photos feature them dressed hella casual in bright tones, hangin' on a porch. A year ago, these incriminating aesthetic details would have led uninspired critics to quickly label these guys "chillwave" and then move on, but the band is a prime example of how pervasive summery imagery can be a part of all kinds of music, from chillwave's hyper-compressed grooves to the kind of soaring SoCal pop that G&V specialize in. Their stock and trade are earworm simpatico melodies, falsetto vocals, funky bass warbles, electro-acoustic percussion, and - yes - downy adult-contempo flute flourishes.  Fans of everyone from Passion Pit to the Carpenters, take notice: Here Comes the Sun. 

[Le Voyeur, with The Soft Hills, 10 p.m., no cover, 404 Fourth Ave. E, Olympia, 360.943.5710]