My romanticized version of Southern California was shaped almost exclusively by my love of the 2005 film, Lords of Dogtown. It made the streets of Venice Beach out to be a sort of grungy wild west for incredibly cool and underprivileged teenagers. Which, more than anything, was what I wanted to be: cool. This culture, which is totally unique to Southern California, will always be California at its best for me. I couldn’t care less about the movie industry or the fashion industry: The ideal vision of California is someone skateboarding past a palm tree. That’s what you get at Lou’s Records. A place that is cool, independent, filled with great records, and right on the damn beach.
What to Expect from Lou’s Records
Lou’s Records is in what San Diego locals call North County. Specifically, Lou’s is a short drive from the main drag in Encinitas that has the rest of your non-vinyl shopping needs. If you are visiting San Diego, there’s a good chance Encinitas is on your radar if you plan to get outside the main part of the city. For good reason, too. Encinitas has some of the best surfing in the area, tons of local art, cool upscale clothing stores, surf shops, and restaurants. Basically, a great place to blow all that money you don’t have.
Encinitas is a pretty upscale area, like most of San Diego, but Lou’s maintains an old-school vibe that has largely left this part of North County. The exterior has the look of an old-school surf shack, which it very well could have been at one point. The affectionately weather-beaten sign will guide you in to the small parking lot and the treasures within.
The interior is a familiar sight. Posters, records, and movies fill the walls, and musical mobiles dangle from the drop ceiling. All the media your heart can desire. Size-wise, this place was larger than most of the shops we visited in San Diego. Granted, there was a lot more than just records for sale. CDs, DVDs, books about music and similar items made up a good amount of the inventory.
Selection at Lou’s Records
Lou’s has the heart, soul and inventory of an independent record store. Literally, a large selection of their inventory is simply labeled “Indep.” I combed through this section carefully and found all kinds of cool records. From your urban-outfitter-variety, indie artists like Mac DeMarco, down to bands I’m not cool enough to have heard of.
The independent section was a highlight for me and definitely a standout but there was tons of other stuff worth digging through also. Rock and pop section was well stocked with a mix of new and used records as was the jazz and hip-hop sections.
As I mentioned earlier, there were tons of CDs for sale as well as some DVDs, T-shirts, Slip-mats, basic audio equipment, and so on.
Prices at Lou’s Records
The prices at Lou’s Records were right around the middle of the pack for the rest of the stores we visited in San Diego. There wasn’t a ton of rare records in the $50+ range from what I saw, but plenty of used records were available for under $15. New records were priced right around what I’d expect in that $25 range on the low end of things, with Double LPs being around $35.
My Thoguhts on Lou’s Records
Lou’s is a super cool record store with an above average selection in an awesome part of San Diego. This felt like such a wholesome and classic record store experience. Lay back as hell, and good enough vibes that you can be digging for a few hours and hardly notice.
Selection – 8/10
Prices – 7.5/10
Vibe – 9/10
Records Purchased
The New Sound – Geordie Greep
John Prine – John Prine
Address: 434 N Coast Hwy 101, Encinitas, CA 92024