We want to send you to see Oakland band Trails and Ways!

From overgrown houses in north Oakland, Trails and Ways make guitar pop, thick with warm noise, driving beats, four voices, and the open chords of bossanova. Take college commune roommates, have them live for stints in Brazil and Spain, bring them home together carrying the sparks of songs, and see what catches flame.

Early singles “Nunca” and “Mtn Tune” rocketed them to the top of the blogosphere charts, followed by national tours and opening spots for Tycho, Stars, and Mac DeMarco. Debut album Pathology landed in 2015, earning the band a spot on Barsuk Records and São Paulo’s Balaclava Records, and launching the band to shows across North America and Brazil.

Their lyrics and stands for environmental & social justice led Time Magazine to call them “decidedly political”, their sound “lush and worldly”. FADER says they’re “seriously encouraging me to switch from blue jeans to bathing suits until further notice.” Too-beautiful-to-live 32 Ft/Sec says, “The party, the Good Life, is out there somewhere, likely south and it sounds exactly like this.”