This past weekend Los Angeles psychedelic garage rockers Allah-Las kicked off a week of East Coast headlining dates that will have them returning to Underground Arts this Friday, July 24th. The shows come ahead of the band’s sixth full-length, Sirenas, which drops more than a month later on August 28th (The album announcement came on the first of the month, alongside the release of “Pt. Conception,” the second track from the LP to drop as a single, following May’s “Ultramarine.”) However, fans “learning the songs” prior to the shows shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem, as the album is entirely instrumental. Although, during a phone chat last week, Allah-Las vocalist and guitarist Miles Michaud tells me that the songs, which began with the quartet – also including percussionist Matt Correia, bassist Spencer Dunham, and lead guitarist Pedrum Siadatian – jamming on different things in Michaud’s home studio in Topanga, weren’t originally intended for an official release, but the band’s former label convinced them otherwise: “We were like, ‘Some of these don’t really lend themselves to lyrics.’ Originally, it was just gonna be demos, but Mexican Summer was interested.”
Throughout their six studio LPs, Allah-Las have bounced between labels Innovative Leisure and Mexican Summer, with Innovative Leisure releasing previous LP Zuma 85 in 2023 (already having dropped their 2012 self-titled debut and 2014 follow-up Worship the Sun) and Mexican Summer last releasing 2019’s LAHS. However, the first Allah-Las album on Mexican Summer, Calico Review, turns 10 this September, so I’m curious how Miles feels about their third full-length a decade on. “When we put a record out, I can’t listen to it for like five years, because I have to listen with professional ears, working on it through all the iterations. But I have listened to that one more recently,” Michaud admits, before explaining that some of the songs have long been live favorites: “I feel like the songs are really strong and we like playing them live.” He even tells me he’s considered capturing the live versions on an official release: “Sometimes I think we gotta put a live record together, because the songs have evolved so much over the years.”
Late May and early June saw Allah-Las playing shows throughout California, before heading to the UK and Europe in late June and early July, and Miles tells me that the overseas dates were especially fun, even if a bit uncomfortable: “London was a highlight. We did three nights at MOTH Club, a smaller venue, and we like playing more personal rooms, but it was hot as hell there, no AC with a couple of fans blowing around [laughs].” “The whole Europe tour was pretty hot, actually,” he goes on to admit, but mentions having an exceptionally great time in Italy, playing one show at a castle and another on a pier at a beach in Genoa. And while (according to setlist.fm) the shows earlier this year didn’t seem to include too many live previews of Sirenas, Michaud tells me we can expect quite a few (along with old favorites and Monde UFO’s Brian Bartus on keys). But he says that early reactions to the music have been good: “I don’t think anyone would anticipate what’s on there, but I think people are pleasantly surprised… It’s good to throw something out there that’s not necessarily what they expect of you, and get a positive reaction.”
Allah-Las are no strangers to Eraserhood, having played both Union Transfer and Underground Arts, which they last headlined on the eve of 4/20 in 2024 (On one recent trip, Miles even went to a Chinese restaurant and picked up a shirt that said, “No Arena!” He was happy to hear that we won that battle…) And this time around, they’ll be bringing Habibi lead vocalist Rahill Jamalifard, whose solo moniker is simply Rahill, who’s opening the current US run and apparently also a longtime friend of Michaud and the band: “We’ve played a handful of shows with her and Habibi. She’s a great person to hang with, a great person to play with, and it’s great to have some female energy on the tour.” Following their North American jaunt, Allah-Las will be back in the UK and Europe in late August through mid-September, but Miles tells me they are planning on booking some studio time in the near future, although he says the next record is very unlikely to be anything like Sirenas, so definitely take this chance to catch the live show: “We had a lot of fun making it, but I don’t think we’re planning on doing something like that again.”
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