Lights On
Gig Seeker Pro

Lights On

San Diego, California, United States | SELF

San Diego, California, United States | SELF
Band Rock Alternative

Calendar

This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

Music

Press


"IFC.COM Lights On's "We Live Underground""

"We Live Underground" is filthier, tougher, and sounds more like something The Electric Prunes may have jammed in '67 -- if they were a bit stiffer and paranoid out of their goddamn minds. " - IFC.COM


"New Song : Lights On : Red Lights Flashing"


"Clearly these gents were weened on a steady diet of Factory Records, and based on their impeccable grafting of spastic post-pop with gloaming new wave, I’m certain that the Here Comes The Ocean sessions involved at least one séance to conjure up the assistance of one Martin “Zero” Hannett. Their new single, Red Lights Flashing, offers more of the same (not that it’s a bad thing, mind you) and should please fans of The Smiths, Depeche Mode and Echo and The Bunnymen. " - MY OLD KENTUKY BLOG


"Lights On -- Listen Up!"

"These Southern Calif. rockers demonstrate what sunshine can do to your psyche and sound. Bouncy riffs adorn playful synths, ready for your next road trip sing-a-long or backyard barbecue. " - Spinner.com


"Stranded In Stereo"


The lights are on and they’re not turning off anytime soon. San Diego’s five-piece, Lights On, keeps us whimsically peachy with their garden of tracks. “John and Anne” is a soft personal love letter duet coated with youthful bliss.

Making #14 on HypeMachine’s charts, this band reminds us of the bright artists on your summer playlists, including Elefant, Polyphonic Spree, Stars, and even Modern English. One Kind Radio blog reviewed their EP, “Waiting for the Heart to Beat”, as “varied, solid sounding, and promising”.

Lights On has played several shows in New York this month before they make their way back home to San Diego to finish off a show at the Beauty Bar on August 20th. If you are in the area, stop by for a listen.Stranded In Stereo - Stranded In Stereo


"The San Diego Union-Tribune (Aug 10, 2009)"

"Just imagine the very best scene of a John Hughes movie, where the girl finally gets the guy, and that's how you feel when Lights On performs. The band has a flair for '80s New Wave, but with completely modern keyboard and electronica touches." - The San Diego Union-Tribune (Aug 10, 2009)


"there’s a world of happiness to be explored throughout Lights On wonderful record."

Makes your ventricles bulge doesn’t it? Funny really as ‘John And Anne’ is taken from an EP called ‘Waiting For The Heart To Beat’. The band are Lights On from San Diego and they love acts from Sweden who write songs about young folks. This will not only have you whistling but it may also encroach on normally mundane routines. Sweeping to the left could suddenly involve a rapturous hip shake while taking the dog for a walk may see said mutt being swung overhead by the lead. Make sure you take him down before he’s hurt mind, can’t have his death on your mind when there’s a world of happiness to be explored throughout Lights On wonderful record. Is this how Columbus felt when he spotted something on the horizon. KD - MP3HUGGER.com


"MTV Buzzworthy Obsession: Lights On"

San Diego five-piece Lights On just wrapped up a mini tour in Brooklyn -- their first visit as a group -- and just released the five-song EP, Waiting For The Heart To Beat. And if you ONLY have time for one track, it'd be "John and Anne," which is easily download-able with a little power of positive Googling (or just follow that link to Lights On's MySpace). With lyrics "Dear John," I figure the track would be breakup-centric, but "John and Anne" is more a plea for salvation.

Lights On's sound: You could almost compare them to The Stars; the package comes off quite retro, with dulled vocals that evocative of a grainy recording. There's also a little of The Raveonettes in there, but way toned down -- like someone grabbed the clanky-electronic-cacophony dial and turned it to medium-low. And there's a little of that Peter, Bjorn, And John a-haunting in there too. My only issue: HOW can I keep straight Lights, Hit The Lights, Francis And The Lights, and Lights On? Thankfully I have room -- and now love -- enough for all. - MTV.com


"Future Sounds"

LIGHTS ON have been sharpening their craft, making regular trips to New York, and are also writing new material that we got a glimpse of at the party that is set to be called, “Here Comes The Ocean”. What at first I thought was a ‘80’s referencing band, turned more into a TALKING HEADS type of creativity. Check out “Ordinary Life”, where they mesh LOU REED with DONALD FAGEN coming out sounding like our generation’s “I.G.Y.”. The lyrics hit you on the bridge of the nose with frankness and honesty, like “I’m not cool anymore man, I don’t even try, so you can take my place in the neon lights, give it a try. Me I’m just staring down the barrel of an ordinary life”. “Listen To The Radio” sounds like a NEW ORDER track that didn’t make the “Pretty In Pink” Soundtrack. “Wild At Heart” was the song that hooked me originally, still a special track that somehow makes me think of PSUEDO ECHO or ALPHAVILLE. “John and Anne” was “Young Folks” before “Young Folks” was conceived; timing is everything. - Future Sounds


"WXPN.com ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC - MORNING DOWNLAOD"

Lights On are one totally cool new wave band with indie rock clothes on. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The harmonies are near perfect; the hard to forget melodies you can’t walk away from. And the guitars just resonate with power chords, tasty little nuances and full speed ahead rawk. - XPN.ORG


"BROOKLYN VEGAN album review"

"Not unlike Foreign Born, the echoes of '80s-era KROQ are all over the band's tuneful debut, Here Comes the Ocean....Echo & the Bunnymen is the comparison they get most often and it's hard to deny, especially on the LP's midtempo closing tracks "She Comes Walking Down Slowly" and "It Never Stops" which coulda come straight off 1987's 'grey album.' ...The rest of the album is more energetic and not quite as influence-specific, but it's very Velvet Underground '80s sonic diaspora if you get my drift." The whole record's pretty catchy stuff. - BROOKLYN VEGAN


"a tidal wave of sound"

n Diego’s band 5-man band Lights On has recently released their debut album, Here Comes The Ocean. Their song “Red Lights Flashing” talks about a tidal wave of sound, which is, quite frankly what they sound like. Rolling, crashing, flowing…they fit all of these descriptions. More great summer music to listen to in your car with the windows rolled down. Pretty excited about this album! - SUNSET IN THE REARVIEW MIRROR


Discography

2008 WAITING FOR THE HEART TO BEAT EP ( self Released)
2010 HERE COMES THE OCEAN (self released)

Photos

Bio

Over the last few years, San Diego's Lights On have gained much praise as a serious band to watch. What was initially a collaborative creation between Tim Hines and Mike Kamoo of Earthling Studios, LIGHTS ON have grown to become one of Southern California's most promising and impressive bands. Their debut full length "Here Comes The Ocean", is a remarkable album that makes evident that LIGHTS ON are contenders for today’s new indie rock mainstays.

In 2009 LIGHTS ON accomplished international exposure from music blogs championing their music, in turn earning them "Best of..." nominations from San Diego Music Awards for their debut 5 song E.P. "Waiting For The Heart To Beat". The EP's classic "new wave' inspired songs found a unique space in current popular music that intrigued and drew a wide variety of fans. LIGHTS ON quickly found their songs being requested and used in film and TV shows such as HBO's "Hung", FOX Family's "Greek" SHOWTIME's "United States Of Tara", CW's "The Vampire Diaries" and "Gossip Girl"! Using this momentum and excitement from the music's reception - LIGHTS ON developed into a serious live band in the Southern California scene even opening for international acts like Peter Bjorn and John and Loney Dear, as well as impacting in the bustling New York scene.

"Here Comes The Ocean" is LIGHTS ON’s sophisticated debut album, offering a seemingly diverse range of sounds that come together as a whole with a common LIGHTS ON dna that rings through. Recorded over various sessions between 2007 and 2009, each song on "Here Comes The Ocean's” seems to live in its own creative moment and time –giving a sense of a band embracing its creative strengths for a fuller statement as an album. Inspiration of past and present fuels “Here Comes The Ocean” with sounds reminiscent of Johnny Marr's 12-String, a splash of raw garage-rock, hints of Farfisa organ, mood altering vintage synths, fuzzed out bass hooks, and swooning vocal melodies with powerful harmonies. “Here Comes The Ocean” is a modern pop record first and foremost, recorded with full-fidelity as a necessity to the strength of the music. On July 6 "Here Comes The Ocean" will be released on VINYL/CASSETTE/digital.