[Here’s where it starts to get busy, folks …] For my money, there is no better punk-rock outfit doing business the past few years than Florida’s Against Me!, who remain the only band to have slayed me at both Coachella and the Warped Tour. The quintet just finished a new album, “White Crosses,” with producer […]
It’s the wrap-up of Buzz Bands Playlist 2009 – beginning at noon today on Indie1031.com, I will finish counting down my favorite SoCal songs of the year. But first, a confession: A friend and loyal reader asked me at the Buzz Bands party on Sunday night where, in my list, a certain band would appear. […]
Hawthorne-bred psych-pop quartet Dios [pictured at Lobsterfest] – who’ve reverted back to their original name after spending some time as Dios (Malos) – are whetting our appetites for the release next year of its third album, “We Are Dios,” through Buddyhead. Their holiday-season giveaway, the single “I Feel Finite” b/w “Puttin It Down,” does that […]
Interesting night ahead at the Vanguard, where the Red Bull Sound Clash pits Kid Sister against Moving Units, with the bands squaring off against each other from stages at opposite ends of the venue. The hip-hop vs. rock showdown will feature four rounds of “competition” in which the acts will show their stuff, with some […]
Members of Foreign Born go on a little Catalina Island adventure in the Matthew Lessner-directed video for “Early Warnings.” The song, with Lewis Pesacov’s frolicsome guitar line, is the one track on Foreign Born’s fine sophomore album “Person to Person” that could have crossed over to the equally fine album by Fool’s Gold, the Afro-pop […]
The music of L.A.’s Pepper Rabbit – the duo of Xander Singh and Luc Laurent – clatters with orchestral charm. Think a low-fi (and more organic) MGMT, with vocals that (as Rawkblog accurately notes) recall Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue. The pair released two EPs to iTunes this year, “Clicks” and “Shakes.” Guitars and ukelele, keyboards […]
La Crescenta-bred rapper Kenan Bell debuts a new single today when “Good Day” hits iTunes – the B-side is track called “T.G.I.F.” that features a guest turn from Aceyalone. Bell, who headlines Spaceland tonight, has been busy finishing up his debut album “Until the Future,” which will be released in March on Sonata Cantata, a […]
Heartfelt thanks to everyone who made it to Spaceland on Sunday night for Buzz Bands LA’s Holidaze, which featured great sets from Letting Up Despite Great Faults, Death Kit, Spirit Animal and Wet & Reckless. Special tip of the cap to Spirit Animal’s Steve Cooper for rocking it as master of ceremonies, and to those […]
Busy night in town – the Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zero gig at the Mayan is sold out, but not Mew’s show at the Fonda Theatre. The Danish rockers’ latest album “No More Stories” came out in August and features “Repeaterbeater” – the video for which is liable to make you … very … […]
[File under: Things I have heard, seen or read:] Little Radio, R.I.P?: Reports of the demise of Little Radio have been exaggerated. The six-year-old Internet radio station, whose struggles have been bandied about on the Internet recently, remains up and running and webcasting curated playlists, although it suffered a setback earlier this year when it […]
