Los Yesterdays

Founded by producer/drummer Gabriel Rowland and singer/songwriter Victor Benavides in Altadena, CA in 2017, Los Yesterdays remained – literally – a garage band for years, a chance for the duo to create their take on the sweet soul music that enveloped childhood experience as young Chicanos in LA.
In a Billboard article about them and their scene, it was noted - “…there is a generations-long appreciation for sweet soul music among California’s Latino communities. Eastern Los Angeles teens.... helped foster a love of sweet soul in the early ‘60s by covering soulful ballads by artists like James Brown... Those sounds.... were kept alive by record collectors and people who spent evenings cruising along East Los boulevards."
A chance meeting between Rowland and Now-Again’s Egon at a barbecue hosted by Beastie Boys’ producer Mario C got them talking about their favorite sweet soul 45s. Rowland pulled out his phone and played the first Los Yesterdays track he and Benavides created – “Mr. Yesterday” – and Egon immediately offered them an opportunity on his label. This was followed by an offer from Daptone’s Gabe Roth for his Penrose imprint. Now, after a series of singles including an unlikely Tik-Tok hit “Nobody’s Clown” and work with Trish Toledo, Los Yesterdays will issue their debut album, Frozen in Time. Los Yesterdays, a Latin soul artist cut from the Joe Bataan/Delfonics/James Brown cloth that feels like it could have been recorded decades ago.Opening with a serene harp, “Nobody’s Clown” settles into a slithering and sexy salsa beat punctuated by horns, more harp, and Spanish guitar to create a pensive ballad that feels delivered via time warp. (It’s a testament to the timeless nature of the song that TikTok has latched on to it hard.) The title track leans into classic Motown soul, recalling immortal classics like Billy Paul’s “Me and Mrs. Jones” or Aaron Neville’s “Tell it Like it Is.” “Something Happened” starts with a piano riff straight out of the Carole King playbook and moves into an unexpected Latin swing—just add a little conga and the undeniable scraping of the güiro to make the influence all the more obvious. The entire record continues on in the same direction, with echoes of Gamble & Huff and Philadelphia soul, all filtered through the pop-leaning tendencies of Fania Records and artists like Ray Baretto, Willie Bobo, and War. 1. Nobody's Clown (Payaso Instrumental)
2. Love Is A Game For Fools
3. I Can Feel
4. So Insincere
5. Give Me One More Chance
6. Tell Me I'm Dreaming
7. Time
8. Who Made You
9. Louie Louie
10. Frozen In Time.
11. Nobody's Clown (Payaso Version)
12. Something Happened
13. Brown Boy
14. Last Request
15. I Want You To Stay
16. But You Did
17. Name On Me
18. I Can Feel (2)
19. Nobody's Clown