U.K. post-punk/indie-pop band Jetstream Pony, fronted by native Southern Californian Beth Arzy, released their debut album today. Fans of the true-blue “indie” aesthetic have reason to cheer.
The DIY beauty of the Sarah Records sound lives on, almost two decades after the now-legendary label blew its last indie-pop kiss to the world. Sometimes it’s even Sarah Records alumni themselves keeping the flame burning. The Legendary House Cats is the solo project of John Girgus of Aberdeen, the SoCal-bred indie-poppers who had two […]
Deep into the Luxembourg Signal’s self-titled album is the song “We Go On,” a dreamy four minutes of popgazing that evokes the sweet melancholy of Sarah Records bands and all the contemporary indie-poppers who have followed. There’s a literal truth to “We Go On” too – the Luxembourg Signal is comprised of members who were […]
[In response to the inevitable questions I am asked at shows – What have you heard? What are you listening to? What’s new? – today I embark on something called Random Dispatches … the contents of my notebook, spilt.] ‣ Lavender Diamond’s recent show at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts was a revelation, […]
If Sunday night’s Aberdeen show at the Echo was the live valedictory of the L.A. quartet – and it might have been, given that singer Beth Arzy lives in London now and doesn’t get back to southern California much – it was a fond farewell. Opening a Part Time Punks night that featured fellow Sarah […]
Sunday’s touts: ‣ Buffalo Springfield goes for round two at The Wiltern. ‣ Twee pop fanatics get a special Part-Time Punks at the Echo’s later show tonight. Aberdeen will be playing their first L.A. show in eight years [see our interview with Beth Arzy] along with fellow Sarah Records labelmates 14 Iced Bears, in addition […]
Aberdeen holds a special place in the cult of indie-pop. The quartet was the only Los Angeles band to release music on the legendary London label Sarah Records. Their gorgeous, shoegazey twee-pop belied the band’s tumultuous existence (and breakup) in the 1990s, but principals John Girgus and Beth Arzy got their heads together with bandmates […]
With the Silverlake Jubilee on the horizon this weekend and so many good shows coming down the pike it makes me dizzy, there’s plenty to talk about on the Buzz Bands LA show today on Moheak Radio. We’ll pile on, then – today I will welcome the members of the previously dormant L.A. indie-pop band […]
[Disclosure: This trio is made up of longtime FOBB (Friends of Buzz Bands). Drummer Dave McKay is a contributor to this blog.] The members of Non Ultra Joy come from such disparate backgrounds you’d hardly expect their work to cling to one aesthetic. Chris McRitchie made saw-toothed hard rock in Flupejac and Big Stone City; […]
I’ll start this item with full disclosure: I’ve been friends with John Girgus since I wrote this piece about Aberdeen’s “Homesick and Happy to Be Here” for my former employer over eight years ago. The album has held up well, and with bands such as the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and the Radio […]
