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Innaway

By: Jessica Grose

Southern California’s Innaway makes slippery music; the kind that’s difficult to classify and relaxing enough to let you slip in and out of attentiveness and fall into a perfect ambient state. Their self-titled album is a mixture of old fashioned psychedelia with electronic influences and bluesy riffs that give Innaway its unique sound. Singer Jim Schwartz has a light and pleasing tenor that makes Innaway infinitely listenable.

Innaway — which includes Schwartz, guitarist Barry Fader, drummer Gabe Palmer, bassist Darrick Rasmussen, and keyboardist Reid Black — shines brightest when they tend towards the bluesy and away from mid-career Radiohead electronica. The first and last songs on Innaway, “Threathawk” and “Cowboy,” are the most blues-influenced, and therefore the strongest songs on the album.

“Threathawk” (click to listen) opens with a mesmerizing harmonica solo that initially draws the listener in. Then the harmonica gives way to driving drums and pretty harmonies; along with the electronic bits, the blues makes “Threathawk” a true original. “Cowboy” is a thinly veiled anti-war anthem. With lyrics like “They push humanity aside / And shatter lives to justify,” it’s easy to tell which “Cowboy” Innaway is railing against.

Innaway is touring with the Brian Jonestown Massacre this August. The band’s album is out now on Some Records.

Innaway tour dates:

7/15, New York, NY (Mercury Lounge)7/20, New York, NY (Pianos)7/29, New Haven, CT (Cafe Nine)8/2, Hoboken, NJ (Maxwell’s)*8/3, Philadelphia, PA (Khyber)*8/4, Washington, DC (DC9)*8/5, Chapel Hill, NC (Local 506)*8.6, Atlanta, GA (The Earl)*8/6, Orlando, FL (Will’s Pub)*8/10, New Orleans, LA (TwiRopa)*8/11, Houston, TX (Walter’s on Washington)*8/12, Austin, TX (The Parish)*8/15, Albuquerque, NM (Launchpad)*8/16, Tucson, AZ (Plush)*8/17, San Diego, CA (The Casbah)*8/18, Los Angeles, CA (The Vanguard Theatre)*(* with Brian Jonestown Massacre)

Links:Innaway official site