Happy Holidaze – the Buzz Bands LA holiday party

1

BBholidayflyer-2

Let’s embrace the winter season with a little panache, shall we?

You’re invited to Buzz Bands LA’s Holidaze – a party and show all wrapped into one.

It kicks off at 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, at Spaceland, and it’s free.

Headlining will be L.A. quartet Letting Up Despite Great Faults, with support from Death Kit, Spirit Animal and Wet & Reckless – and your between-sets entertainment will be provided by the Hell Ya! DJs. Oh, and there will be snacks and giveaways, and perhaps a little something special for our charity of choice. Stay tuned for an announcement next week on that.

Since it’s a Buzz Bands LA show, these artists might not be household words. But rest assured, they should be in your vocabulary. The lineup:

Letting Up Despite Great Faults (10:45 p.m.) – The swoon-worthy, M83-in-a-bedroom synth-pop of songwriter Michael Lee’s project shimmers like a light display in snowfall. The debut album that caught my ears this fall is the perfect antidote your annual December madness – a tuneful warm-and-fuzzy, without all the gaudy wrapping. Live, Lee is joined by his songwriting collaborator Kent Zambrana, as well as Chris Gregory and Rachel Koukal.

Death Kit (9:45 p.m.) – Fronted by drummer-singer August Brown (whose name you might recognize from a certain local publication), this new trio hybridizes electro beats, organic rhythms and bristling guitars as a foundation for its sweetly packaged but cutting narratives. He’s joined by guitarist Terry Case and Jessica Gelt (the ex-Movies bassist whose name you might also”  recognize from a certain local publication). Live, they’re much more Death From Above than Pet Shop Boys – this isn’t just a episode of “When Journos Rock.”

Spirit Animal (8:45) – The new band fronted by singer Steve Cooper (the Gray Kid) is heady confection of electro, funk and blue-eyed soul. Spirit Animal’s forthcoming album “The Cost of Living” was hatched in collaboration with Jordan Richardson and Jesse Ingalls (now bandmates of Ben Harper), Daniel De Blanke (Robotanists) and Computer Jay, among others. When Cooper sings “When we try / too hard to dance / We look like / ANTS!,” you will not be able to stand still, promise.

Wet & Reckless (11:45) – Singer-guitarist Emily Wilder fronts this new trio, whose edgy girl-group stylings lean toward the punk and pointed rather than the pretty and predictable. Wilder is joined by Deanne DeVries on drums and Gelt on bass. Listen closely before you swoon, boys.

Hope you can join me.