Shana Cleveland formed the idea for La Luz after being inspired by surf and rock and roll acts like
Link Wray,
The Ventures, and
Dick Dale, as well as girl groups like
The Shirelles. Cleveland put together a band of fellow Seattle musicians (drummer Marian Li Pino, bassist Abbey Blackwell and keyboardist Katie Jacobson) and they immediately started rehearsing, recording and performing. The band name comes from the Spanish for "the light". Cleveland has cited Japanese guitar player
Takeshi Terauchi as her biggest guitar influence. After releasing an EP titled
Damp Face in 2012, La Luz signed with
Hardly Art. Shortly after the release of
Damp Face Jacobson left the band and was replaced by keyboardist Alice Sandahl. They released their first full-length album, ''It's Alive'', on Hardly Art in October 2013. On tour supporting
of Montreal, La Luz was involved in a serious automobile accident on November 5, 2013, while traveling from
Boise, Idaho, to Seattle, when their tour van slipped on
black ice. After crashing into a highway divider, the van was hit by a
semi-trailer truck. Band members sustained injuries, and all of the instruments and merchandise were destroyed with the tour van, forcing them to cancel the remainder of the tour. In February 2014, bassist Abbey Blackwell left the group, and was replaced by Lena Simon. In August 2015, La Luz released their second album,
Weirdo Shrine, again through Hardly Art. Produced by
Ty Segall, the album was more live-sounding than previous efforts, and featured heavy
fuzz guitar.
Weirdo Shrine received positive reviews in
The Guardian,
Pitchfork, and
The New York Times, and the group embarked on an international tour to support its release. They moved from Seattle to
Los Angeles later that year. In February 2024, Alice Sandahl announced her departure from the band and that she was being replaced by musician and producer Maryam Qudus, who has previously performed under the name Spacemoth. Near this time, Lena Simon was replaced by Lee Johnson on bass guitar. These lineup changes (especially with Maryam Qudus) allowed the band to develop its music style, using electronic effects and arpeggiators in some songs. The next album,
News of the Universe, was released in May later that year by
Sub Pop. Upon returning from touring the album, the band reworked and recorded five songs from
News of the Universe and released them on a limited edition EP titled
Extra! Extra! for Record Store Day Black Friday 2025. The EP was made available for streaming in January 2026. ==Band members==