we could do with just vocal harmonies and one synthesizer: very minimal, making the most out of a little." Since the release of the band's 2009 debut 3rd Avenue Island, the vocals have been "a really crucial element, the only thing holding it together." Use arrow keys to turn pages (page 1/2) Due in part to their nods to Stax and Motown, the band has attributed the tongue-in-cheek descriptor "nervous soul" to their music. While the origin is unclear, Hernandez believes that "It started as a joke but it's kinda true." Bassford says they've had a "horrible time coming up with our elevator pitch." Rock and pop are close, but they're not comfortable with the baggage of those genres. However, Hernandez is sure of one thing: "I would definitely not call it soul music." "I would definitely not call it soul music." Ava Luna does not want to be grouped with soul revivalists. "I have nothing against those bands, but I'm totally not interested in that," Hernandez says. "It's just like anything else, when you're appropriating music that begs to be appropriated -- I mean, it's the basis for hip-hop sampling and so on -- it's there to appropriate in awesome ways. But at a certain point, it's nostalgia for its own sake and retro for its own sake." "If Chuck Berry came on the scene now, with Chuck Berry having already happened, it wouldn't have the same import," Bassford succinctly concludes. "You can't pretend all those things didn't happen.