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Biography
21-year-old Justin Vallesteros began experimenting with synthesisers and guitars and developed a knack for bedroom-based luscious musical layering. Craft Spells was soon joined by guitarist Frankie Soto and generated a frenetic buzz around the band online after the release of their debut dream-pop track “Party Talk”. Soon after the release Craft Spells became signed to Brooklyn-based label Captured Tracks home to artists of a similar ilk including Wild Nothing, DIIV and Beach Fossils.
The first release by Captured Tracks was the single “Party Talk”/“Ramona” which was the musical equivalent of a deck chair and satisfied a whole host of buzz-fueling indie fans. After signing with the label Anna Luxx Ryon joined the band on synths, Jack Doyle Smith on bass and Peter Michel on drums and released the 7” “After the Moment”.
In 2011 the band, excluding Frankie Soto, packed up their things and moved to Vallesteros’ birthplace Seattle, Washington, U.S. with the aim of introducing the place to their brand of indie rock pop. Craft Spells’ debut album was released in the spring of 2011 to across the board good reviews, with Pitchfork giving the album a very respectable 7.7. Vallesteros’ mordant Ian Curtis inspired delivery has become a fixture of the band’s success and the single “After the Moment” shows a band flexing their creative muscles.
Craft Spells followed the release with a European tour and a six-track EP “Gallery" released in May 2012. Suffering from a severe case of writer’s block in 2013 Vallesteros moved back home with his parents, taught himself how to play the piano, and subsequently released Craft Spells’ sophomore album “Nausea” in June 2014.
Live reviews
The concept of bedroom pop has been widely re-popularised in the past few years, and Stockton, California native Justin Vallesteros is nothing if not keen on a trend. As the mastermind behind Craft Spells, he blended plenty of well-worn influences - C86, New Order, The Smiths - in a manner that genuinely breathed new life into those cues on his superb debut album, Idle Labor. In the years since, he’s turned his one-man project into more of an out and out band, managing to bring a more expansive, complex sound to follow-up Nausea - released earlier this year - whilst still maintaining the charming lo-fi edge of his previous work. Nausea is sharp as a tack in some places - check out the fizzing Breaking the Angle Against the Tide - and flat-out woozy in others, and its a sensibility that Vallesteros has successfully translated to his shoegazy live shows, where he’s backed by a full band and has an uncanny ability to recreate the plethora of guitar sounds that form the crux of his recorded output. Back in 2011, a slew of dates in support of Idle Labor in the UK were canned without explanation, but expect him to return sooner than later to back Nausea, already one of this year’s hidden gems.
Joeg_67
Craft Spells is the performing name given to musician Justin Vallesteros, a young expert in lo-fi dream pop. Performing alongside his well trained and hand selected live band, he continues to make waves across the States with his encapsulating and thought provoking sounds and lyrics all complete with a coating of Craft Spells gloss.
Operating out of San Francisco, Justin brings a sense of the city's free spirit and creativity along with his live show as the musicians spend time jamming along to the easy going vibes. They may not be the most charismatic of bands yet the acclaimed material of their debut album has found a large following so it enthuses the crowd plenty. It is interesting to hear tracks from 'Idle Labor' played in a live setting as it demonstrates a development from the quartet and opens up some doors as to where they could go next. They are taking very well considered steps in their career so far and with a solid live performance and an ability to hold a crowd's attention it is all looking very promising for the future of Craft Spells.
sean-ward
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