Kevin Bronson on April 10th, 2009

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[Nifty new sounds from L.A. bands just on my radar …]

Maybe it’s the leviathan drums or maybe it’s the story in the lyrics, but “Cleopatra” makes Anglos sound like they’re more than a flavor of the moment. The big, patient anthem, the title track off the foursome’s debut EP, is the work of songwriters Josh Thorpe and Sean Miller, Portland boyhood pals who have assembled an L.A. lineup that includes ex-Acute bassist Matt Herman and drummer Roger Brogan, who plays with Sonic Boom in Spectrum. The EP was released on upstart imprint Greatminds.

||| Download: “Cleopatra”

||| Live: Anglos, along with Go West Young Man, perform Saturday at El Cid.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Band of California kids sink roots in Fullerton, start making Americana-infused music, take off. No, the new five-piece Mississippi Man are not Cold War Kids 2, but there are similarities in their earnest folk-pop. The band’s ambitious seven-song EP, “The Snake Oil Salesman,” recorded with Raymond Richards at Red Rockets Glare studio in L.A., was written partially in Joshua Tree at a place bandmates Luke Messimer, David Knight, Santino Lighthouse, Scott Rabjohns and Patrick Hagg call “The Casa.” The quintet is already getting some attention, and has a tour coming up with the Rosewood Thieves and Lemon Sun. Here’s one infectious track off the EP:

||| Download: “The Jester”

||| Live: Mississippi Man celebrates its EP release with a show Saturday at eVocal in Costa Mesa.