THE VIOLET LIGHTS are a rock duo based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California. Recording their debut EP, Sex & Sound, at the legendary Hollywood studio Sunset Sound, they emerged with what is being described as a “Velvet Underground descendant collection of songs more befitting of the ‘garage’ label than, say, The Strokes” and a sound labeled “a mash-up of Britpop, NYC garage rock and West Coast guitar musings.”
Sex & Sound has begun to garner media coverage worldwide, with critics taking notice of the high production standards and fun, radio-friendly quality of the self-produced, self-funded record. Bloggers are designating the five-song effort as “full of muscular guitars and hummable hooks,” and deeming the songs “energetic and catchy” while predicting, “Sex & Sound is undoubtedly all they will need to find success.” In late 2011, the EP appeared at #12 on the CMJ Radio 200 Adds Chart and remained on the CMJ Radio 200 Chart for several weeks. In support of its April 2012 release, The Violet Lights will embark on a 45-city North American tour beginning on January 25th, culminating at South by Southwest in March.
The Violet Lights got their start when Joel Nass and Amber Garvey left their hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin without plans or money and headed west. Getting by in LA while developing their music has proven to be a trying yet colorful adventure for the two, a story chronicled on their blog and accompanied by their own uniquely stylized photographs and videos. This running narrative and coordinated visual aesthetic is a considerable complement to the project, engaging fans in the ongoing story and bringing writers to comment, “Their coming out party in the blogosphere is uplifting as the band has really committed themselves to telling their story as they evolve on their blog…We really dig the sexy-cool garage rock image.”
