Francisco the Man with Horse Thief and Forum
Sunday, February 8
The Conservatory | Oklahoma City
It doesn’t take much to guess where Francisco the Man might reside. It’s all sitting there in that sound, clues strewn throughout. A flirtatious one — a little hard to pinpoint, but tidy all the same — it courts a little bit of everything: sunny indie glimmers, gritty garage tones and caffeinated shots of skying folk, all with gentle shoegaze ebbs and flows. At moments, they favor confident hooks that scream “indie band with big ambitions” (roaring, Pixies-indebted single “It’s Not Your Fault”). Then, the band goes the opposite way, pulling back for something a little more nimble, soft, and sweet (“Progress,” “Loaded”).
It’s all so very conflicted Southern Californian, a band dizzied but in love with the cultures melting together around them, lured in by the name on the marquee to the same degree they wish to turn its back to it all and stare at the endless ocean sitting ahead. And Francisco the Man (no relation to Portugal) wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We weren’t trying to hone in on a specific sound; we just did what came naturally,” singer Scott Cantino explained. “I enjoy the diversity [of their surroundings]. People are from all over the place. Keeps things fresh.”
Debut album Loose Ends — out last fall on Fat Possum Records — was nearly a decade in the making, a record that took the young band through a fair amount of struggle in the form of lineup changes, a two-year hiatus, relocation from Riverside to their new home in Los Angeles, and even a near-death experience. There was anxiety and some nervous energy that went into its making, but you’d never tell that for how assured it all plays out, no doubt owed to that extended gestation period.
“We have learned a lot over the years, done things on our own terms,” Cantino offered. “There’s never been pressure to do anything we didn’t want to do. I guess that’s a plus.”
Cantino and his bandmates — Néstor Romero (bass), Abdeel Ortega (drums), and Brock Woolsey (guitar/keys) — believe they’ve found the perfect label in Fat Possum to allow them to keep doing just that. The Oxford, Mississippi imprint got its start with old school Magnolia State blues musicians, but has since helped break The Black Keys, Wavves, Youth Lagoon, and Smith Westerns, and it found a sweet spot with listener-friendly, rumbling garage-punk of late.
“We felt comfortable with them immediately,” Cantino said. “They understood where we were coming from and where we wanted to go. [We] couldn’t ask for anything else.”
This upcoming national tour, featuring Horse Thief in a string of Texas dates before Sunday’s Oklahoma City gig and labelmate Jackson Scott through the rest, is the band’s first full cross-country trek. And the thrill of the highway taking them not only to places they’ve never played but haven’t even visited runs deep. So, too, is the chance to make an impression, however big or small.
Asked what he’d like listeners to know the band for, Cantino was direct.
“Everybody wants their music to be remembered, right?”
