Out of the fifty United States, California has got to rank as one of the most magical, but not because of goddamn Disneyland. You can start a trip in Oakland and enjoy the scrappy but sensational counter to big city San Fran in the rearview. Then you can head fifty minutes south to San Jose and see the arts scene, the historic cultural neighborhoods, and the rich diversity despite tech companies ravaging the area. Then you may take a scenic two-drive down the 101 and venture through Pacheco State Park and past the San Luis Reservoir to end up in Merced, a lovely inland city just a stone’s throw from Yosemite and other national parks and forests lining the Sierra Nevada.
Yes, you can explore a great deal of California, all without having to deal with Anaheim traffic or the tourists clogging up the Santa Monica Pier. And perhaps you’d like a soundtrack for your journey. To sate your need, Cherub Dream Records – an independent queer and POC-led label based in the Bay Area, and one we like quite a lot – just put out a split EP called Lucky Three, featuring two songs each from three artists/bands making a lot of noise in Central California.
First up: Christina’s Trip, at the beginning of our trek in Oakland, with “F.B.A.T.” (which stands for “Frightened by a Tree” and “Sweep Me”. Chrstina’s Trip channels a fuzzy blend of punk and indie that Christina Busler (namesake for the band) defines as “distortion pop”. Christina’s Trip channel Oakland’s artistic and proudly non-conventional nature in everything they do, as depicted in the colorful video for “F.B.A.T.” in which Busler and the rest of the band don goth garb and makeup, posing as melodic shadows against the blues and greens of the the bay. (U2 fans: It might remind you of the music video for “Gloria”.) Between their two songs, Christina’s Trip embodies the grittiness of Oakland, which hasn’t lost its beauty no matter how much venture capital vultures sell it out to the highest bidder.
Next is Natasha Sandworms down the road in San Jose, with “Bird of My Life” and “Perfect Feeling”. Natasha embodies the antithesis of everything San Jose has become: Where tech startups have laid a thick veneer of gloss and metal and bullshit across more and more parts of the city, the DIY feel of Natasha’s music carries with it the humanity and culture still present in SJ’s vibrant communities. It has a little bit of the coast in the jangling guitars, but Natasha’s music sounds like it spent a little extra time baking in the central coast sunshine.
Finally, we travel east to Mox in Merced, whose tracks bookend the EP. “Scared” opens up the record with a full blast of Mox’s ability to craft sludgy grunge magic, and “Leaving” ends things with a more indie pop flavor showcasing her somewhat quieter side. We’ve featured Mox plenty on the site and have commented on her ability to turn personal experience into music. On the split EP, we hear her mastery of different genres and musical tricks to spin stories, bringing to life the starkness of a “small town” like Merced and the big, creative spirits that live within its limits.
Cherub Dream says the three-way split “feels like a road trip mixtape for the long highway stretches that sprawl over the great state of California”. I could not agree more. Whether driving down the 5 or the PCH or the 101, or through the many winding roads that take travelers from the coast through the valley to the mountains and desert, Lucky Three has something for everyone, just like the roughly 163,700 square miles of California which so many people – including Natasha Sandworms, Christina’s Trip, and Mox – call home.
Take a listen to Lucky Three below.
Written by Will Sisskind
