Le Switch - Fine Los Angeles Indie Pop » Press

Le Switch is a Beatcrave Fav!

Aaron — Tue, 25 May 2010 22:43:06 +0000

Check it! http://su.pr/2GcXHQ

LA WEEKLY

Aaron — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:13:46 +0000

Thank Justin “Aquarium Drunkard” Gage and his Autumn Tone imprint for releasing the full-length debut from Silverlake stalwarts, Le Switch. A shambling, boozy and beautiful 38-minute bender, Aaron Kyle and his talented bandmates, eschew au courant influences for simple, straightforward songcraft. With a skeleton of Ram-era McCartney, Nilson Schmilsson, and The Band, Le Switch are Los Angeles’ answer to Dr. Dog. Dismissing their sound as overly familiar misses the point; Le Switch’s influences might be well-worn but their voice is unmistakably unique. Don’t miss their February Monday night residency at Spaceland.

Flavorpill 2009

Aaron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:59:04 +0000

Honky-tonk keyboards and fiddle ablaze, Le Switch give alt-country a riotous ragtime rip. Formed in 2006, the group has since played every small stage in town (not to mention a set of amazing on-air gigs for the late, great Indie 103). Frontman Aaron Kyle has one of the most seductive and mournful voices around, running the gamut from yodel to Hank Williams warble. The band plays tonight ahead of the release of a new EP, The Devil Needs a Cough Drop.

– Victoria Joyce

Can You See the Sunset

Aaron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:55:19 +0000

Le Switch has got a good thing going for sure. Falling somewhere between the dark Will Sheff stylized Americana of Okkervil River and the twang-pop sensibilites of Rhett Miller and his Old 97’s. There is a certain wavering edge that Le Swtich’s music so precariously walks on their debut album And Now… Le Switch. It is loose and bouncy. It is the edge of rock-n-soul music that is carried by horns, raucous pianos, organs, strings, etc… as well as the whiskey-soaked vocals of singer Aaron Kyle. The album was released by the folks at Autumn Tone Records who also happen to be the same people that do the Aquarium Drunkard blog.

L.A. Times – Buzzbands

Aaron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:48:41 +0000

Buzz Bands: Le Switch flips on the soul

Aaron Kyle sings as if he’s never five minutes from his last whiskey, or five minutes from his next, occasionally lurching into a down-deep growl you wouldn’t think could come from an angular white dude in a collared shirt and old browline spectacles.

Read the rest!

But it’s that voice, and the woeful tales it conveys, that have endeared L.A. fans to the distinctly vintage soul-pop of Le Switch. “We’re not the fashion police,” Kyle says. “I think if you write a good song, people are going to respond, no matter whether it’s gonna end up in Vice magazine. Besides, I’d trade soul for cool any day.”

There’s plenty of that on “We Are Le Switch,” the debut album due this month on Autumn Tone Records (a local imprint run by Justin Gage, the man behind the Americana-leaning blog An Aquarium Drunkard).

Le Switch’s sound, which nods to the likes of Leon Russell, Dr. John and Randy Newman, first began to take shape when Kyle fell in with drummer Joe Napolitano in 2005. Maria DeLuca (trumpet, viola, vocals) joined next, and by the time keyboardist Josh Charney and bassist Christopher Harrison had come on board, Kyle was eager to “make the Leon Russell or Harry Nilsson album we wanted to make,” he says. “Everybody in this band listens to a huge assortment of ’60s and ’70s music — there’s not a lot of new music I can drive with.”

Aquarium Drunkard.com

Aaron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:34:15 +0000

Le Switch, a band name which is damn hard to say without affecting a bad French accent, has added another notch to a year whose belt is already full. The notches, in this case, count the bands who have released albums that, genuinely and without schmaltz, channel classic rock and pop tropes through a modern sounding release. And Now…Le Switch falls more on the side of head-bobbing Dr. Dog than reflective-nod-inducing Blitzen Trapper, but the results are immediately identifiable and repeatedly enjoyable.Read the whole review

The key here is flow. With albums like this, and especially with bands I’m not overly familiar – which most people won’t be on a debut LP – I prefer that the album is kept short. In this case, ten tracks is a perfect digestible portion. It allows the band, fronted by the dynamic Aaron Kyle, to get in, get out and leave a sweet aftertaste.

And it’s Kyle’s voice that serves as one of Le Switch’s biggest boons. He sings in a style that takes occasional flights into a grittier, yowling energy that is thrilling and when they do appear in songs like “Give Me Something,” their proto-Waitsian growl is an infusion and a rush. It’s the sound of someone abandoning self-consciousness and turning to sheer emotion and performance.

The loose-limbed feel of the album recalls a Basement Tapes type atmosphere. Fully integrated and fleshed out; an impressive feat for a band with only a prior EP under their belt and two years as a band. Available now via AD’s label Autumn Tone. words/j. neas

Link to Review

My Old Kentucky Blog

Aaron — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:30:18 +0000

Not that this has anything to do with the record, but Aaron Kyle, lead singer of Le Switch, is intense and maybe one of the funnier lead singers I’ve ever hung out with. In a drunken, bonding, bromance session over four White Castle sliders and two WC chicken sandwiches, I probably told the guy things my wife doesn’t even know about me. The next night, this time over Mrs. Winter’s chicken strips (we had to walk through the drive-thru btw), the sharefest continued. Kyle explained the birdman club, his half-Mexican belly and confided intimate stories of redneckism from his now defunct marriage. We hit it off is what I’m saying. We both have powerful, somewhat obnoxious, laughs and the uncanny ability to embarrass ourselves and others within seconds of entering a public place. You put us together and it was a look-at-me-dogfight-to-the-death.

Read the rest!

Le Switch’s upcoming record And Now…Le Switch is being released September 30th, 2008 on Autumn Tone Records – the label of our friend and SIRIUS colleague, the Aquarium Drunkard. I haven’t really written about any of Justin’s bands because of that relationship/friendship, but after a weekend in Nashville with this band, there is no way I could ignore them any further.

The record has already often been compared to Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album Ram so it is even more fitting that the band will be covering McCartney’s Monkberry Moon Delight for an upcoming cover compilation. At times, the intensity of Kyle’s vocals lend a modern Man Man/Dr. Dog vibe to the whole deal as well – but this is more prevalent in their live show versus the record. Having seen them both live and having listened to the record now more than a few times, they definitely need to find a way to capture a little more of the live show on record, but until then, this is a really enjoyable effort.

Read the Article Here

Little RADIO

Aaron — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:39:32 +0000

“The band is now a quintet and far beyond what you’d consider “passionate.” Furiously belting out melodies with guitars, percussion, bass and a wicked trumpet player in Maria DeLuca, the Switch played a brutal set with glorious results. If that display of musicanship wasn’t good enough, and it was, last night’s gig at Radio Free Silver Lake’s “Let’s Independent” sealed the band’s reputation as an incredible band to behold.

I’d wager most people confuse The Switch as the next Cold War Kids, but this is light years better and definitely believeable.”

Read the whole review…

PERFORMER MAGAZINE

Aaron — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:31:57 +0000

“Formed two years ago, Los Angeles’ The Switch sports some ragged, booze-soaked vocals courtesy of one Aaron Kyle, and plays with a bouncy rock ‘n’ roll soul that commands attention. Think Greg Dulli’s Twilight Singers with less pathos and more laughter. Kyle has a similar R&B-singer-via-drunken-rocker vocal delivery with a less-is-more approach to rhythm guitar. In fact, apart from the opener, “Tongue Tied,” and “Living in Another World,” the band’s debut five-song EP, Hello Today, actually leans more on Joshua Charney’s piano for its foundation than Kyle’s guitar…”

Read the whole review…

FLAVORPILL

Aaron — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 23:30:15 +0000

“Tonight both bands join fellow bittersweet, melodic locals the Switch for Let’s Independent!, Radio Free Silver Lake’s monthly new-music showcase.”

Read the whole review…