Kevin Bronson on August 18th, 2011

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Oh, Sunset Strip, you conflict me so. On one hand you are an interactive museum of rock clichés, Madame Tussauds with a pulse and a Flying V, a vast portion of your denizens seeking to inhabit the tattooed skin of GnR/Jane’s/Van Halen. On the other you inspire a certain sense of wonderment, because the fabric of Los Angeles needs your leather, lace and spandex, and maybe even Steel Panther just for laughs, no matter what they say east of Fairfax. And because your clubs sound great. Now we arrive at this year’s annual chest-thumping party, the Sunset Strip Music Festival, which culminates in a big street festival Saturday boasting a lineup nobody who doesn’t snort nostalgia would recommend. There are some gems to found in the club shows (which begin tonight), to be sure, including my favorite new L.A. hard-rock band, Dead Sara. To thee I dedicate this humble mixtape, The Buzzsicle, Vol. 16:

||| Download: Buzzsicle 16

After the jump, the tracklisting:

Dead Sara, “Whispers & Ashes” (Friday at the Roxy)
Indians, “Dream Store” (Saturday at the Key Club)
Imagine Dragons, “The River” (Saturday at the Roxy)
Eastern Conference Champions,”Bull in the Wild” (tonight at the Roxy)
Sabrosa Purr, “Killing the Aries” (Saturday at the Roxy)
Taylor Locke & the Roughs, “Jennifer” (Friday at the Viper Room)
Youngblood Hawke, “Glacier” (Saturday at the Key Club)
Nico Vega, “Be Giving” (tonight at the Roxy)
The Tender Box, “Signs of Fire” (tonight at the Viper Room)
Kill the Complex, “Save Yourself” (Saturday at the Roxy)
Queen Caveat, “In My Bed” (Saturday at the Roxy)
Love and a .38, “In the End” (Saturday at the Key Club)
Voxhaul Broadcast, “Loose Change” (Saturday at the Key Club)