Cayucas’ brief bio on their Secretly Canadian label page explains that the band’s name is “the monikered homage to a sleepy little seaside town in San Luis Obispo County, troche California.” “That town, discount Cayucos, cialis ” writes either Andrew or Katie The SC PR Rep, “has hardly changed in the last 50 years, a far cry from the gentrified tourist traps parading showily down the nearby coastline.” It thus seems strange that Cayucas’ lead Cayubro Zach Yudin would decry the evils of “gentrified tourist traps” along the Cali coast given that Cayucas’ debut LP Bigfoot mostly amounts to just that: an auditory postcard sent from the most recent big wave of American indie rock.
Despite the relatively dramatic description you just read, this isn’t necessarily a knock against Cayucas. Of Monsters and Men owe bands like Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros thousands in royalty checks, but that doesn’t diminish the fact that they do their thing well–this is largely the case with Cayucas. It’s obvious that Zudin (a nickname invented seventeen seconds ago, not to be confused with his brother and bassist Ben or “Budin”) has a agenda in crafting Cayucas’ musical DNA, and the pieces are clear to hear. Vampire Weekend is the winner here, given Cayucas’ song structures, melodies, and lyrical odes to high school and/or college living (“Look at the posters that are on the wall/ Michael Jordan standing six feet tall”). Along with reflecting contemporaries like Surfer Blood, Real Estate, and even Grizzly Bear (i.e. reverb, more melodies, and reverb), and any group that exudes super chill West Coast beach party vibes, Cayucas’ debut album is genetically engineered to provide most of the soundtrack to your backyard summer grill sessions.
The crowd at Great Scott certainly agreed that Cayucas are the mid-tempo indie band of Summer 2013 as fans came out in full force on the night before July 4th, the epitome of the “grill and chill” lifestyle. It’s exceedingly rare to attend a first-time Boston show for a new band and have a fair amount of attendees sing along to multiple songs while dancing throughout the set, and even Cayucas appeared surprised by the audience’s fervor. In fact, one particularly excited (or inebriated) concertgoer demanded that Cayucas cue up a particular song they had already played, prompting a response that the show felt like a Dashboard Confessional concert (perhaps one of the greatest things ever heard at a non-Dashboard Confessional concert). You can’t blame the mistake considering that Bigfoot comes in at a swift length of eight tracks, but upbeat songs like “Cayucos” and “High School Lover” kept the crowd pleased, mobile, and hungry for an encore from the impressively tight quintet.
Looking ahead, Cayucas and frontman Zudin in particular need to increase their energy and presence on stage to match what their crowds bring to the show. Their current tactic of distanced cool runs the risk of appearing apathetic or emotionless (an example of which is their video for “East Coast Girl”), a strange incongruity considering the band’s music wants its listener to have a good time. For now, though, Cayucas should continue to bask in the afterglow of a successful outing to Boston on their first cross-country tour.
