Based in what they call “Nasty City” (San Diego), the men of Los Shadows have seen it all. In an interview with SDVoyager, band founder Pepe Gonzales tells his story of building his dreams from the ground up. From an abusive home to a high school theater stage to a Florida construction company, guitarist “Buck Nasty” kept his head up.
The Nirvana-enthused group owns its quirks with pride and makes itself at home with all the beach rock-pop vibes. Their newest single “Laugh Now, Cry Later” is no exception.
Far from Ice Cube’s song of the same name, “Laugh Now, Cry Later” reminds listeners of a perfect day of escape on a beach somewhere far away. The intro is surprisingly long compared to the overall length of the song and sets it up in a way that makes bopping along hard to resist. But when you dive into the lyrics, you may not want to dance.
The vocals fit the instrumentation perfectly as they lazily float along with the melody. The lyrics paired with a laid-back enunciation tell a story in very few words, comparing a confusing situation to tending a garden that’s just a little too large to handle alone. It seems as though the narrator of this story is juggling too much at once, but as indicated by the title, has no time to worry about it.
When we laugh now with little regard for the consequences of our actions, we may find ourselves crying later. We take on more than we can handle, neglecting or harming others in the process. Digging ourselves in deeper, we carry on, hoping that somehow the situation will sort itself out.
Los Shadows pairs mellow instrumentation and fun beats with lyrics that cut when you take the time to think about them. But when we’re listening to Los Shadows we’re on a beach somewhere, escaping for just a little while longer. So we have two options:
- Just follow the music until the drums pick up and bring the whole thing home with a Spanish flair — Laugh now, cry later.
- Or cry now. So that by the time the drums kick in, you’ve got nothing left to do but laugh and dance along.
I would choose the latter, but that’s just me.
