[Recently crossing our radar …] The Features, “Rambo” – The Nashville quartet’s fist-pumping take on indie blues has been a staple of our playlists for a long time, and its second album for Kings of Leon’s Serpents and Snakes label, “Wilderness” (out next week), does nothing to diminish our enthusiasm. Matt Pelham wails like he […]
There are so many shows to recommend tonight my recommending muscles are tired: ‣ It’s not often a guy who’s won a Kennedy Center Living Legend Award visits the Echoplex, so tonight’s show with Jimmy Scott ought to be special. With a career spanning more than six decades, the 85-year-old vocalist has performed with most […]
With the way MTV and VH1 have gone down the drain in regards to purpose and integrity, it’s comforting that bands still care about the music videos they make. However, the fact that music videos have been replaced with smut reality shows hasn’t seemed to bother Australian indie folk pop group Cloud Control. Although their […]
Steffaloo has been a frequent collaborator for most of her career. Her recent ones that have made the rounds on the blogosphere include hazy electronic tunes with Blackbird Blackbird and Sun Glitters. However, Steffaloo, aka Steph Thompson, has also accrued a good number of short EPs and one album titled “Meet Me In Montauk” where […]
Dunes certainly runs in the hip circles – their iPhone video for “Tied Together” (released as a 7-inch on Teenage Teardrops) features cameos from members of No Age, Vivian Girls, Abe Vigoda, Telepathe, Shannon and the Clams and other denizens of the L.A. underground. Not unlike the metaphor in the song and the video, the […]
[No tantrums today – it’s Fitz’s birthday. Cheers to Michael Fitzpatrick on the eve of his band’s big homecoming show at the Music Box:] Tonight’s flurry of activity: ‣ This week’s installment of the free Also I Like to Rock series at the Hammer Museum will sizzle with a little joie de pop – headlining […]
Story and photos by Matt Draper In 1983, after his fanzine and club night had culminated, a Scot named Alan McGee formed an imprint he called Creation to release records from like-minded friends. “73 in 83”, a single from art-rock band The Legend! became the label’s first release after McGee secured a £1,000 loan. Though […]
“Please speak to me / with empathy / and I won’t fight back,” sings frontman Matt Schwartz of L.A. quartet Chasing Kings. In their new video music video for “Empathy,” Schwartz definitely isn’t fighting back, but his bandmates certainly aren’t showing any compassion either. Dragging him into an abandoned shed and pinning him down to […]
Mere Mortals seemed destined to be one of those bands Los Angeles overlooks – purveyors of rock-solid rock that a) isn’t made by 21-year-olds, b) isn’t fashionably disheveled or gimmicky, and c) doesn’t require an instruction manual to like. After a handful of releases and a memorable tour or two – including playing to some […]
San Francisco’s garage-rock prodigy Ty Segall has been consistently merciless when it comes to packing the heat in to his heavy, fuzzed-out guitar tunes. Although he’s a member of a handful of Bay Area bands, he’s been able to churn out album after album of material that has paved the way for artists such as […]
