Loma Prieta is a screamo/emoviolence band from San
Francisco, formed in . Loma Prieta formed out of a previous band
by the name of Sailboats, who only ever released
a demo (in ), and then mysteriously broke up; Loma
Prieta have been known to cover
Sailboats’ “Behind Trees” when
playing live. The band released their demo in , and from then on, released an impressive amount of material, even
touring Europe in the summer of in support of
their LP by the name of “Last City”, which remains one of their
most revered works. Most of their material has been released through Discos
Huelga, which is run by drummer
Valeriano Saucedo, although they are now signed to
Deathwish.
Starting with their LP, “Dark
Mountain”, Loma Prieta began working with Comadre and
Everybody Row guitarist Jack Shirley (although
the mixing was done by Ian and Jay Pellicci),
who runs The Atomic Garden recording studios in
Oakland (perhaps now best known for
producing San Franciscoblackgaze outfit Deafheaven’s breakthrough
record, “Sunbather”). Jack Shirley then also recorded (and
was a guest performer on) Loma Prieta’s next LP,
“Life/Less”, and all of their records after that (including the
very next record, and perhaps their most well-known, “I.V.”) have
been fully produced by Shirley. Loma Prieta shares members with numerous
other hardcore acts, perhaps most notably Punch
(with whom they did a split single), Elle, and Beau Navire. As
stated on their bandcamp page: “Loma Prieta have been a mainstay
of the Bay Areahardcore community for more than .” Perhaps that statement can now
be extended to “more than ”.
The timespans listed here for the band’s members are somewhat guesswork,
with the exception of the two constant members, Sean Leary and
Valeriano Saucedo.
Loma Prieta’s music started out in a relatively modest emoviolence vein; while quite a bit of their early material is
very good, it lacks the maturity that they would display on “Last
City” and onwards. It is this more mature material that has earned
Loma Prieta a place in the screamo pantheon, with
its unique sound and incredible energy. Some of the hallmarks of Loma
Prieta’s sound include:
Incredibly noisy sound, including desperate-sounding screamed (and often
distorted) vocals — Loma Prieta are almost
impossibly loud, incoporating clipping artifacts as part of
their sound.
Incorporation of strong melodies into the powerviolence/emoviolence framework, even sometimes to the point of
being catchy.
Difficult song structures and stop-start dynamics, including the intricate
rhythms and time signature abuses that are characteristic of certain styles
of emoviolence, as exemplified by bands like
Ampere and Hassan I Sabbah.
notes on the distributions
All three tunes on the “Demo”
appear, re-recorded, on “Our LP Is Your EP”. This demo was released
on a business-card-shaped CD-R.
The deadseapianorolls distribution of “The Emo Apocalypse” listed
here only includes Loma Prieta’s contribution.
The split record between Mexico Cityemoviolence outfit Arse Moreira and Loma Prieta
was never released, and also might not have even been planned to be a split
record(?)
The first track off of “Last City” (“Worn Path”) is
occasionally erroneously listed as “Warn Path”.
The split record between Loma Prieta and Rockingham County, New
Hampshirescreamo outfit l’antietam is similarly dubious to
the split with Arse Moreira. Information about
l’antietam’s side of the split is scarce, and they may not
have ever recorded it. The inclusion of one of l’antietam’s
tracks on the listing (but not in the distribution) is a reflection of
this YouTube video, which has a
description that reads: “L'Antietam in Portland, Oregon. This song is off
the split w/ Loma Prieta. Filmed by Alex Gaziano. July 2008.”
The deadseapianorolls distribution of “Discography 05-09” only
includes “The Needle In The Haystack (Unreleased Version)”,
“The Needle In The Haystack”, and “Running Over A Community
Service Worker (Get Get Go cover)”, as all the other tracks are from
other releases.
The Japanese release of “I.V.”, due to Daymare
Recordings, has a bonus track at the end that is
just Loma Prieta’s side of the split with fellow San
Franciscanhardcore punks Punch (the track itself being a cover of
one of Punch’s tunes).
![cover art for “[demo]”](demo.jpg)
![cover art for “[V/A] The Emo Apocalypse”](emo-apo.jpg)
![cover art for “[split] Arse Moreira / Loma Prieta”](arse-moreira---loma-prieta.jpg)
![cover art for “[split] Loma Prieta / l'antietam”](loma-prieta---l-antietam.jpg)
![cover art for “[split] Punch / Loma Prieta”](punch---loma-prieta.jpg)
![cover art for “[split] Loma Prieta / Raein”](loma-prieta---raein.jpg)
![alternate pressing [1] cover](last-city-alt-1.jpg){kind=link}
![wide shot of alternate pressing [1] components](last-city-alt-1-wide.jpg){kind=link}
![alternate pressing [1]](life-less-alt-1.jpg){kind=link}
![Japan release liner notes [1]](iv-japan-liner-notes-1.jpg){kind=link}
