Daiana Feuer on November 1st, 2016

1

When he was 12, Lucas Fitzsimons found a guitar in the basement of a family member during a visit to his birthplace, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though a dedicated hip-hop radio fan, he had become obsessed with the idea of playing guitar, memorizing chords on the internet before he even had his own instrument. Upon returning to his home in L.A.’s South Bay, Fitzsimons got a guitar and began a long story of playing in bands, but it wasn’t until a trip to India in 2012, that he put the pieces together for what would become the Molochs. The name itself comes from the villain in Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl,” which serves to remind Fitzsimons of all the crappy things that come with life as an artist — broken relationships, career pitfalls, being broke, living in shoddy spaces, getting screwed by people, only to wash it all down with a bottle of wine and write another song. That seems to be the story behind “America’s Velvet Glory,” which will be released on Jan. 13 by L.A. label Innovative Leisure.

Joined by bandmates Ryan Foster, Cameron Gartung, Derek Cowart and Mateo Leonardo, this is the Molochs’ second album, following 2013’s “Forgetter Blues,” which was released on Fitzsimon’s own label. The new album follows in the proto-punk, garage and folky intersections of the first, but with more refinement, and a nice recording job done by engineer Jonny Bell at Long Beach’s Jazz Cats studio, a favorite spot for Innovative Leisure artists. First single “No More Cryin'” has a good groove, a punchy straight beat, classic structure and a prominent harmonica, giving it a very ’60s feel that is only further accentuated by these mop-headed guys performing it in the music video.

||| Watch: “No More Cryin'”

||| Also: Stream the song here

||| Live: The Molochs perform Nov. 18 at Acerogami in Pomona (tickets), Nov. 20 at the Constellation Room (tickets) and Nov. 22 at Bootleg Theater (tickets).