South San Gabriel

South San Gabriel, like Centro-matic, emanates from Will Johnson's immense vault of songs. While Centro-matic is best known for their bombastic, fuzz-laden rock songs and Johnson's solo recordings tend toward the sad and sparse, South San Gabriel is the outlet for Johnson's open-ended, hallucinatory pop songs. Featuring a revolving cast of players, including all the members of Centro-matic, it takes on a family and friends collective-like mentality. Often, performers meet for the first time minutes before a set, and this sort of improvisational/communal spirit shapes the wandering nature of South San Gabriel. Though relatively unknown in the United States, South San Gabriel is a known and well-loved venture in Europe, an odd reversal of fortunes for the boys of Centro-matic.