Kevin Bronson on February 24th, 2009

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[I’m going to ratchet up the frequency of Ears Wide Open, my series of quick-hits on the new L.A. music that reaches my ears – and laptop. Here goes:]

Ventura three-piece the Spires have been spreading their Anglophile wings in SoCal for a about five years, their”  sweet indie-pop recalling the days of C86 and earning deserved comparisons to the likes of Luna, Belle & Sebastian and Robyn Hitchock. The effortlessly melodic “TAM” – available from iTunes with a remix version and another great song, “Teapot” – teases the band’s second full-length album, “A Way of Seeing,” due in March. Based on this, it can’t come soon enough.

||| Download: “Tam”

||| Live: The Spires have a date March 7 at Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara with the Coral Sea and Radars to the Sky. Also: April 19 at Part Time Punks at the Echo.

Bands such as Shaimus are hardly a threat to become hipster favorites – purveyors of by-the-diagrams pop-rock, they are almost ridiculously competent, and largely irony-free. Indie it isn’t. Commercially viable and hookier than hell it is. This quintet honed their chops at Boston’s Berklee School of Music before heading west, and its sophomore album, “The Sad Thing Is, We Like It Here,” features music in “Rock Band 2” (they’ve also had music in “Guitar Hero”). Here’s one of those unfailingly catchy tracks:

||| Download: “Turn the Other Way”

||| Live: Shaimus’ album-release show is March 4 at the Mint.

Photos: The Spires by IzzoImages; Shaimus from the band’s MySpace.