Kevin Bronson on October 5th, 2008

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“They’re like, euphoric.” So said one L.A. tastemaker during the Arcade Fire-meets-Polyphonic Spree delirium summoned by Silver Lake sextet the Afternoons. The ominous clouds even parted for this offshoot of local indie-pop favorites Irving, whose big anthems can alter the foulest of demeanors. Dual drummers, keys, horns and the Steve Scott-Brian Canning harmonies make for powerful elements, but none is more striking than the operatic wails of vocalist Claire McKeown. I swear the fern trees along 1st Avenue perked up at the sound of McKeown’s classically trained pipes. If “Say Yes” doesn’t put a smile on your face, you’ve been reading too much economic news.

Shortly thereafter, on the same stage, the Mae Shi unleashed its own brand of euphoria. Playing less than two blocks from the underground venue that helped launch them, the Smell, the spazz-poppers battled gear woes but still got everybody off the ground — and some of the crowd, eventually, under the “Mae Sheet.” Moshing was mandatory, as, apparently, was crowd-surfing while performing, singing into your sneaker and trying to cram your entire catalog into a 25-minute set. “We’ve got, like, 50 more,” Jeff Byron said with about five minutes left in the set. You know, they came close.

Japanese Motors, whose debut album is coming out this month on Vice, aren’t what you expect when you hear the band is fronted by a former pro surfer. Donavon Frankenreiter this isn’t. Alex Knost’s impassioned (maybe too much so) vocals carry this Costa Mesa garage-rock outfit, which channels the Strokes and Iggy Pop. The quartet’s first single, “Single Pins & Saftey Pins,” is just out, and they made fans with a recent residency at the Detroit Bar in their hometown. Hard to tell from their material whether Japanese Motors is going for the Warped Tour kids or a more Indie 103.1-type audience, but Knost has the requisite dynamicism to go with his gret tan and Edward Scissorhands haircut. Maybe this is nu-surf?

What I deduced from the Datarock set is: 1) their track suits always look good, 2) it was the Norwegian band’s 11th L.A. show this year, 3) people aren’t tired of dancing to them.