"California" is a song by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Delta Spirit Delta Spirit is an American rock band from California, United States. The group consists of Jonathan Jameson (bass), Brandon Young (drums), Matthew Vasquez (vocals and guitars), Kelly Winrich (multi-instrumentalist), and William McLaren (guitar) ...

, from their 2012 self-titled album. Written by the band, and released as a single two months prior to the album's release, it earned the band some of its first radio airplay and television appearances. A

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song was filmed and released in 2012.

Origin

"California" was written by Kelly Winrich about his girlfriend on the East Coast, while he was living in California, after troubles and difficulties they "Called it quits". He wrote the song soon after."

Reception

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to fea ...

's Gregory Robson described the song as "Placid, vernal and painstakingly honest, it represents Delta Spirit at their very best." In May 2012, Delta Spirit performed the song on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' In May 2012, Delta Spirit was chosen as San Diego's

91X XETRA-FM (91.1 MHz), branded as 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM, is an English-language radio station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It airs an alternative rock radio format. The studios and offices are on Cornerstone Cour ...

's local artist of the month, with the station highlighting the success of the song. Subsequently, California was chosen as a "Song du Jour" on San Diego's

XETRA-FM XETRA-FM (91.1 MHz), branded as 91X, and sometimes identified as XTRA-FM, is an English-language radio station licensed to Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It airs an alternative rock radio format. The studios and offices are on Cornerstone Cour ...

and has remained in occasional rotation since then.

Music video

A music video for "California" was released in early 2012 with the tagline: "Being young is way more fun than being old, and being a punk is way more fun than being a square." It features young friends riding in the back of a pickup truck, hanging out at a bar, and attending a rock concert.

Use in pop culture

In December 2013, the song was featured on ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' during "

Independent Movie An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...

" (season 10, episode 6).

External links

Watch the "California" video on YouTube

References

{{authority control 2012 singles 2011 songs Rounder Records singles Songs about California Delta Spirit songs