LA-based psych band Wand returns to the Chapel
Songwriter Cory Hanson's rising psychedelic rock outfit Wand visits its stronghold of Bay Area fans this week, headlining the Chapel in San Francisco Thursday night.
Though arguably not quite as prolific as his fellow Los Angeles psych merchants (and former Bay Area residents) Ty Segall and John Dwyer of Osees, Hanson and company have released an impressive string of albums since first coming together in 2013. Guitarist and vocalist Hanson got his start playing in the band Thief with high school friend Chad Ubovich, a future Segall collaborator who leads his own band Meatbodies in addition to playing bass in Segall's power trio Fuzz.
While Ubovich has dismissed Thief as "a pretty boy band...trying to be Radiohead," the experience started Hanson down a steady path of playing music. He would work with another Segall collaborator in Mikal Cronin as well as playing stints with SoCal punk band togetherPangea and Ubovich's band the Meatbodies before striking out on his own. After recording demos of songs that would make up the first Wand album, Hanson convened the first version of the group with art school friends Lee Landey (bass) and Evan Burrows (drums). The band would eventually expand to a quartet with second guitarist Daniel Martens.
Released on Segall's Drag City imprint God? Records in 2014,
Ganglion Reef
quickly established Wand as a new force on the LA garage-psych scene with its mix of soaring melodies and sludgy guitar riffs. Their first tour opening for Segall found the band warmly embraced by a ready made audience happy to mosh to Hanson's tuneful, fuzzed-out anthems. The band quickly followed with
Golem
for In the Red Records, which teamed Wand with regular producer/engineer for Thee Oh Sees Chris Woodhouse for an even heavier sound, before issuing their third more folk-pop psych effort
1000 Days
within the space of just over a year.
While Hanson would take more time for the next Wand album, if anything his productivity increased. In addition to expanding the band to a quintet with guitarist Robert Cody (Martens had left the year prior) and keyboardist/vocalist Sofia Arreguin and touring extensively, Hanson also issued his first solo album -- the delicate acoustic guitar and strings effort
The Unborn Capitalist In Limbo
that had echoes of Love's
Forever Changes
and Nick Drake -- and toured as a member of Ty Segall's new band project, the Muggers.
2017 saw the release of Wand's fourth album
Plum
. The accomplished tunes further distanced the group from its raw, garage-psych beginnings as they embraced an expansive chamber pop approach with more intricate vocal harmonies. During an exhaustive live schedule of shows to promote the album, the band proved it could still deliver the more sophisticated material (and older gems) without skimping on the ferocity that had marked their performances in the early days. A follow-up EP
Perfume
also showcased the broader sonic palette.
Building on that continued refinement, in 2019 Wand delivered what may be its most experimental collection of songs to date. The sprawling double LP
Laughing Matter
echoes Radiohead, '90s avant-pop synth group Stereolab and krautrock pioneers Can mixed with Hanson's infectious vocal melodies and the band's kinetic, propulsive energy. The group toured extensively to promote the album, closing out the year with a celebrated run of performances supporting Stereolab.
While the pandemic curtailed band activity, Hanson remained busy, releasing his second solo album
Pale Horse Rider
on Drag City Records. Turning away from the psychedelic chamber folk of his debut, the album found Hanson exploring a style of cosmic Americana that nods to the work of genre pioneer Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers with its wind-swept desert soundscapes and swelling pedal-steel guitar. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Hanson also launched the web series
Limited Hangout
on YouTube that featured surreal comedic vignettes interspersed with performances of the new songs.
Hanson has been splitting his time between his solo efforts and Wand of late, with the band releasing the sprawling live recording
Spiders in the Rain
late last year that drew from performances during the 2020 tour to promote
Laughing Matter.
Meanwhile, Hanson's third solo album
Western Cum
issued in the spring hews closer to the loud, electric-guitar dominated sound of the songwriter's main band.
Last summer, Wand released its long-awaited sixth album
Vertigo.
The new quartet line-up of the group featuring Burrows, Cody and bassist Evan Backer has delivered another woozy dose of psychedelia fleshed out by horn and string arrangements (provided by Backer) that in some ways find Hanson coming full circle with fragile, hypnotic art-rock tunes that could be long lost Radiohead outtakes. That fall, group released an additional 12" single featuring music and remixes of songs recorded during the
Vertigo
sessions. Drag City also issued
In a Capsule Underground
, a collection of demos and unreleased material from the band's
Ganglion Reef
-era recordings. Wand returns to San Francisco Thursday night when it plays
the Chapel in the Mission District
for this performance with no support acts that will include a liquid light show by regular collaborators Mad Alchemy.
An Evening with Wand
Wednesday, March 27, 8 p.m. $25-$28
The Chapel
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