60 Watt Kid sees musical instruments as electronic soundscaping devices. With analog synths, guitars, drum, harmonica, samples, and dozens of effects pedals, the band creates lush fills that cascade along hypercolor, magnetic streams—without a laptop. Comparisons to Animal Collective, Talking Heads, Cocteau Twins, and Suicide all ring true in some sense. Along this horizon, alien forms brush against passersby on the street. In fact, the lyrics of song “2012” describe an alien encounter singer Litrow experienced living in San Francisco. “The aliens transferred their information to me through a combination of alien gesturing and a game of time travel chess,” he says.

Back in poverty-stricken days, his building manager dubbed Litrow “60 Watt Kid,” as he habitually stole light bulbs from the laundry room to use in his apartment. After breaking from dance-punk band Dance Disaster Movement in 2002 and a solo acoustic period, Litrow formed a psychedelic drone pop band with multi-instrumentalist Derek Thomas and drummer Garret Pierce that came to be 60 Watt Kid. After recently moving to Los Angeles without Pierce, the band found its third ambient musketeer in Dylan Wood.

The band is releasing a new album with Oakland-based indie label Absolutely Kosher Records. We Come From The Bright Side has been mixed by producer Thom Monahan, whose credits include Devendra Banhart, Entrance Band, Vetiver, and Lavender Diamond, among others. Regarding the album title, Thomas says, “One might speculate that it is about Eastern philosophy or Indian metaphysics. But the name is kind of inside out. It’s actually more about existential exploration. Jacking into the ethos.”

Posted on Thursday, June 18th, 2009.