Via Luna

Complex doesn’t even begin to define the sophomore album from the Kansas City, Mo.-based quartet, Via Luna.
Via Luna enhanced its impression on the Lawrence music scene in September 2014 when the band performed live in-studio for Live @ KJHK, the student-run radio station’s YouTube channel.
The band’s comedic cheerfulness in the introduction of the video let viewers know the chemistry is real among the quartet. When the music started, it only solidified that first impression.
Via Luna also placed second at this year’s Farmer’s Ball, just behind local Lawrence band No Cave. Achieving second place meant a $1,000 award for Via Luna.
“The crowds were so supportive and full of energy,” the band said in an email. “[The Farmer’s Ball shows were] two of the most enjoyable shows that we as a band have played to date. We almost forgot that it was a ‘competition’ because we were having such a blast hanging out and listening to great music and then also getting to play.”
The band used that award money to buy new equipment to record and produce its latest album, “Heavy Light,” which released on June 26.
According to Via Luna’s Facebook page, the band seeks to build off the jazz music Kansas City is known for. The jazzy influences are most notable in the clean, fluttering guitar riffs carried by intricate, technical drumming. However, the overall composition of the album is completely unique.
Each song begins with nearly dissonant complexities that are still danceable. The guitar riffs and drumming fit perfectly together, mimicking each other’s rhythm to create a sound that only Via Luna has achieved.
As each song plays, Via Luna takes the listener on a sonic journey of adventurous experimentations of instrumental emotion. A bridge will slow down the tempo, creating an ethereal soundscape of mostly ambience. The next thing you know, the song takes a sharp turn into a loud, heavy, yet blissful break. As sharp as these turns may seem, Via Luna makes the transitions work well, and it sounds completely natural and well-organized.
“It’s sort of a dichotomy of heavy and light,” Via Luna drummer Mike McDonough said, “which is partially where the album name came from.
“We wanted each 'piece' of this concept to convey a different feel, but still be coherent together from a large-picture point of view,” he said. “We also just liked the idea of a beam of light having a perceivable weight to it. It can definitely feel that way on a really hot summer day sometimes. Speaking of, we looked to the typical Midwest summer for inspiration a lot on this EP.”
To categorize “Heavy Light” as a jazz or math rock album would only be an understatement of Via Luna’s style. “Heavy Light” is a full composition that explores instrumentalism in its highest complexities by representing emotion and storytelling strictly through sound without lyricism. This album is best listened to alone with headphones on, in order for the listener to delve deep into the detailed abyss that is Via Luna’s sound on Heavy Light. - The University Daily Kansan - Mitch Raznick

Kansas city natives Via Luna have a particular signature to their sound that makes their latest release, Calm And Clear, an absolute gem. What makes Calm and Clear so special is the feeling of nostalgia on an entirely different planet. The territory is familiar, but the scenery has been refreshingly painted with a different type of brush. The album is exactly what its name implies; their calm, clear approach makes even frantic acrobatics a soothing normalcy. Here, one will find Japanese emo vibes, fusion licks slowed to a post-rock stature, and beautiful finger-tapped phrases.

Calm And Clear begins with ‘Sunspots’, an ethereal volume-swelling passage serving as the pommel horse for the upbeat second cut, ‘Pretend’. The soul awakening properties of this track makes it the standout for me. The bouncy 5:4 time signature in ‘RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!’ is delivered with tight, buzzy pinches on the snare, and gives the track a wobbling strut. The guitar work in ‘If You Can’t Vibe With The Peter Criss Jazz, You Must Be Dead’ has a chilled vibe not dissimilar to bands like Enemies, aire and the most recent work of CHON. The track itself has a sunny and brightly lit delivery, retaining the composure implied by the album title. The closer ‘Gordon Doesn’t Like The Name Of This Song’ has possibly the most electric song writing on the record. The piece has an abundance of intertwined guitars that effectively finish each others sentences and gives an impression that an esoteric language is spoken between them.

Overall, Calm And Clear has originality, artfulness, and pop validity. A pretty sketch from well-trained hand. - Fecking Bahamas

Buddha was purported to say that ‘Happiness never decreases by being shared’. Here’s hoping that we prove its validity in the exclusive stream before you.

Via Luna released Calm and Clear on 30 May 2014. It couldn’t have come at a better time really; summer was to kick in the following day in the UK. The album’s crystal-clean guitar melodies evoked a sense of cheer and pleasantry, bringing in the season nicely. Perhaps that’s why we enjoyed it so much.

The staccato-style major-chord heavy melodies that Via Luna enjoy concocting are the same type of melodies executed by bands like Ghost and Vodka, Enemies, and the bounty of active Japanese math rock bands. Like their predecessors and contemporaries, Via Luna’s melodies build a pleasant and inviting experience that is free of convoluted virtuosity. The melodies are free to ring out, reverberate and roll atop one another, rather than get thrust into dissonant entanglements as other math rock bands are wont to do (but are nonetheless adept at doing). It’s complex, but not too complex to be bewildering. The end result is a gentle and idyllic journey.

It is because of this that we have no doubts in presenting you Via Luna’s wonderful new album Heavy Light in its entirety as an exclusive stream. Retaining the cheer of Calm And Clear, those halcyon days preceding a radiant summer will be felt again. We are sure that what you will find it soothing and profoundly resonant when appropriate - Fecking Bahamas

Albums were collected from users throughout hundreds of music subs, cleaned up and presented with streaming links and playlists. There are no scores, no judgments, and no opinions - just obscure music shared and curated by other reddit users then collected and arranged for you over the course of two months by our dedicated mod team.

See Via Luna in Set # 3 - Progressive, Math-Rock, and Related - Reddit.com

Via Luna was voted Kansas City's best emerging artist of 2015 in the Post-Rock genre. Official poll results posted soon... - The Deli Magazine - Kansas City