Kevin Bronson on March 6th, 2026

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March is coming in like a … new playlist.

Greatest Hits … This Week (Vol. 377) features music from Mikaela Davis, Bosh Rothman, After Louise, Ronboy, The Blood Arm (!), Kiki Holli, Lake Rana, Lola Blue, Sure Sure, El Ten Eleven, Scout Gillett, The Black Watch, Haylie Davis, Dogstar, Camille Blackman, Beatrix, So What! Who Cares?, Almost Monday, Yeek and lots more. Enjoy

Previous Buzz Bands LA playlists, with liner notes, here.

Anita Mills contributed to this roundup.

■ After Louise, “Fine” — Synth-pop whiz After Louise (the new project from Sofia Carrillo, aka Calica) debuts with the dreamy and slightly funky single “Fine,” which was co-produced with Elliott Kozel, aka Gloomer.

■ Bosh Rothman, “Joshua” — Bosh Rothman first blew into town as drummer for a band of brothers, Living Things, and has since become a co-founder of rock quartet Kills Birds and an in-demand touring and session drummer. “Joshua” is the title track of his debut EP, out May 8, with the remaining five tracks being covers, honoring songs written or co-written by fellow drummers (Dave Grohl, Ringo Starr, the White Stripes, the Carpenters, Father John Misty). “Joshua,” though is a revelation, a beautifully melancholy note-to-self penned against personal anguish. “Driving through Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, frustrated with myself, isolated, let down by people, and wrestling with my own internal battles, I found myself humming: ‘Even if the users, ghosters and abusers let you down, it’s not on you,’” Rothman says. “Within two hours, I realized I was writing a letter to myself — a reminder that everything was going to be OK. … This record is dedicated to everyone who is suffering quietly. You’re not alone. Much love.”

■ Mikaela Davis, “(Looking Through) Rose-Colored Glasses” (feat. Madison Cunningham & Tim Heidecker) — Cosmic folk artist Mikaela Davis introduces her new album, “Graceland Way” (out April 24), with some harp, pedal steel and sky-blue vocals, courtesy of the single “(Looking Through) Rose-Colored Glasses.” Named for the street in Glendale’s Chevy Chase Canyon where the album was written, the LP was co-produced with Dan Horne and John Lee Shannon and featurs the likes of Madison Cunningham, Tim Heidecker, Neal Francis, Karly Hartzman, James Felice and Clay Finch, among others. Here’s the video for the single, in which Heidecker plays a rodeo clown. Live June 3 at Sid the Cat Auditorium.

■ The Black Watch, “It Is What It Isn’t” — Friendly reminder that “Varied Superstitions,” the 26th album from the Black Watch, is out now. File under Brit-leaning power-pop, fuzzy psych and erudite indie-rock. It has to be exhausting to keep things fresh after this many albums, but mastermind John Andrew Fredrick (and go-to producer Rob Campanella) again succeed. Fredrick and friends really stretch out on the propulsive 7-minute album opener, “It Is What It Isn’t.”

■ Ronboy, “I Am Only Playing” — Julia Laws is back with her first Ronboy single since “Disaster,” last August’s collaboration with the National’s Matt Berninger. “I Am Only Playing” is a smoldering indie-rocker that fully combusts just short of the 2 1/2-minute mark. her forthcoming EP, “Get Rich” releasing this summer. “I wanted to capture a parallel with the arc of the song and lyrics, spinning and building into a sonic release of ‘I can’t keep my cool anymore,’” says Laws, who has played in Berninger’s band and will be opening some dates for him this month.

■ Zzzahara, “I Can Be Yours” (feat. Winter) — Zzzahara, the solo project of Zahara Jaime, teams up with Winter on the new single, “I Can Be Yours,” the first taste of Zzahara’s sixth album, “Distant Lands,” out Aug. 7. Live May 28 at the Fonda, opening for Yot Club.

■ Scout Gillett, “Gonna Change” — This week brought the release of “Tough Touch,” the sophomore album from Scout Gillett. “Gonna Change” (Steven Carter’s video here) falls on the more country-fied side of the LP (she rocks out on the opener, “Too Fast to Last”). Live May 2 at Non Plus Ultra.

■ The Blood Arm, “Want x 3” (2026 Remaster) — If you were lucky enough to have your hair blown back by the Blood Arm at a Spaceland/Echo/Troubadour show during the Aughts, you probably remember: 1) they were the rare band who had a hype man introduce them; 2) frontman Nathaniel Fregoso was a wild man who’d hang from the rafters if there were a way up there; and 3) they sounded like they were from England, not L.A. “Want x 3″ appeared on their debut album, which never has been released digitally. “I remember when we used to play ‘Want x 3 live,’ I thought, this is our hit song, this is the one the audience always reacts to, this is the one girls talk to me about after the gig. I was 100% convinced this was going to launch us into the stratosphere,” Fregoso says. “Once we actually started interacting with music industry people, no one responded to this song. They all said, ‘This is not the hit.’ But I still love the song and I think it accurately represents what we were trying to do at that time.”

■ So What! Who Cares?, “Eyes Meet” — So What! Who Cares? (Chris Qualls, Lyndsi Austin, Danny Deleon, Sonya Bender and Bianca Posey), the quintet that is equal parts disco euphoria and subversive humor, return with their first single last August, “Eyes Meet.”

■ Sure Sure, “Internet” — Ten years to the month since Sure Sure released “New Biome,” Sure Sure lives on (as prospers) as the solo project of Chris Beachy. Having released the EP “Keysman” last year, Sure Sure will unveil a new full-length, “Soft Landing,” on March 20. Beachy urges people to stop scrolling (except to find this song, of course) on the new single “Internet, on which he is backed by Cam thistle, Andrew Pham, Rob Steiner and Tess Greenham. Live April 12 at the Constellation Room and April 26 at Venice West.

■ Kiki Holli & The Remedy, “Running Out of Time” — For fans of of the moody 2011 film soundtrack to “Drive,” dream-pop vocals meet dark-wave synth in Kiki Holli & The Remedy’s new stand-alone single, following “Wish.”

■ Lake Rana, “Grasshopper” — New to the scene and off to a great start, Lake Rana, the pop-punk project created by singer-songwriter Josh Rana, drops quality vocal melodies, and catchy-as-all-hell guitar hooks on his genre-blending debut album “Funeral For Fish,” produced by Pete Zen. The focus track “Grasshopper” features psychobilly drums (yes … psychobilly), paired with Dandy Warhols-styled vocals, and a piercing guitar.

■ Luna Aura, “You Suck” — “You Suck” is the new takedown (OK, she calls it a “banishment spell”) from Arizona-born Angela Flores, aka Luna Aura. It’s Luna Aura’s first solo release since the 2023 EP “The Fiction” after debuting her project with the EP “Three Cheers for the American Beauty” in 2020.

■ Yeek, “Felt a Spark” — On March 20, Sebastian Carandang, aka Yeek, will released a new EP titled “Zodiac.” The Filipino-American cross-disciplinary artist slows it down in “Felt a Spark,” an affecting plea to take a relationship out of the fast lane into into something more meaningful.

■ Lola Blue, “Heartbeat” — “Heartbeat,” made in collaboration with Day Wave’s Jackson Phillips, is the first release from Lola Blue since “Carlisle” in the summer of 2024.

■ Reflective Detectives, “Sugar” — Reflective Detectives in the solo project of Ryan Gabrinetti, who released his debut EP in 2023 after spending time playing a host of other bands (including as the touring guitarist for FIDLAR). “Sugar” is an enticing slice of retro garage-pop.

■ The Army, The Navy, “Walls” — The Army, The Navy is the music moniker shared by childhood pals Sasha Goldberg and Maia Ciambriello, Bay Area natives who got their folk-pop project off the ground while attending college in New Orleans before moving to L.A. Having released a pair of well-received EPs in 2024, the duo continue to make dreamy folk delicacies, this week with the Drew Vandenberg-produced “Walls.”

■ El Ten Eleven, “Formerly Fresh” — The follow-up to “Uncanny Valley Girl,” “Formerly Fresh” is the latest single from instrumental wizards El Ten Eleven’s new album, “Nowhere Faster” (out April 10). “The title is us poking fun at how old we are getting,” says the bass half of the duo, Kristian Dunn. “Everything you hear other than drums is coming from a fretless acoustic bass guitar (yes, with loads of effects at times!). On our new record, side one was recorded with my usual electric basses, but side two is all on the acoustic.” Live April 23 at the Echo.

■ Bunii, “Cash” — Bunii is the solo project of Niccolo Terre, whose mathy take on emo-pop found a foothold with the EP “Six” (2024). His new album “Virgilio” will be released March 27, and “Cash” showcases his nifty guitar work.

■ Haylie Davis, “Wandering Star” — Haylie Davis’s debut album “Wandering Star” drops June 5 Via Fire Records. Davis says: “I believe everyone has a calling, a whisper in their heart. Deciding to listen to it might feel like an impossible choice, or at least it did for me. It also takes a lot of courage to be a wandering star. To be lost and find the will to keep going is a very difficult thing to do.” Following  “Young Man,” the title-track is an epic piano-driven ballad featuring Davis’s signature old soul vocals. Haylie finds herself in San Francisco in the music video here.

■ Almost Monday, “Leaving Is Easy” — We have not heard from indie-pop trio Almost Monday since 2025’s dance track “Lost.” The group is back with “Leaving Is Easy,” a deeply personal stand-alone single. Vocalist Dawson Daugherty says: “What I love most about the song is that it isn’t just heavy — it’s hopeful. The chorus feels like a sunrise to me. Our hope now is to take that pain and turn it into comfort for other people — and if the song can help someone else, then it has purpose.” Almost Monday tours with Young The Giant and Col War Kids this summer.

■ Beatrix, “Class Reunion” — “Class Reunion” the latest single from Arielle Kasnetz’s sophomore album as Beatrix, “We Swallowed the Sky,” out April 24 via Nice Life Recording Co. Co-produced with Philip Etherington and Ehren Ebbage, the album — folk and chamber-pop music writ large — features Beatrix backed by the likes Harrison Whitford, Ryan Lerman, Sean Hurley, Rob Humphries, Zac Rae and Greg Leisz, along with strings, horns and woodwinds players. (Death Cab For Cutie, Fiona Apple), pedal steel player Greg Leisz. Watch Rogue Bonaventura’s video for “Class Reunion.”

■ International Druglords, “White Lie” — International Druglords is the new solo project of songwriter Vega Blackwell (aka Vega Schenk), once of the bands Castaneda (2007-08) and the Boom Circuits (2001-15) and later a guitarist/bassist for a host of artists.

■ Sarah & Collin, “She Made The Rain” — Sarah Yocute and Collin Simas are Sarah & Collin: an alt-indie duo known for their immersive stage performances. Simas says of their cinematic new single “She Made The Rain”: “I got rain-checked, and it humbled me, hopefully. A year later I met up with her and showed her the song and she didn’t like it. I never saw her again.” The duo’s debut album “This Time” drops April 10 via Modern Entity.

■ Goon, “Atrium” — Kenny Becker is back with a new Goon single: “Atrium” is a B-side from the latest Goon full-length, “Dream 3,” released last summer. It’s available as a 7-inch (b/w “Death Spells”).

■ Devon Gabriella, “Old Time’s Sake” — Bay Area native Devon Gabriella has cultivated fans with a series of strong EPs (including last year’s “The Garden”), her 2024 debut full-length “From the Next Room” and a recent gig as tour opener for Sombr. “Old Time’s Sake” is her latest confessional (here’s the video).

■ Dogstar, “All in Now” — Dogstar, the long-running rock project of singer-guitarist Bret Domrose, drummer Robert Mailhouse and bassist Keanu Reeves, have announced that they will release their fourth full-length, “All in Now,” on May 29. The album, produced by Nick Launay, “really sets up the energy … and the fun that we’ve always had playing together,” Mailhouse says. Adds Reeves: “For me, the attitude was like, ‘let’s work hard and let’s GO.’” Live May 28 at Yaamava’ Theater.

■ Camille Blackman, “Just Friends” — Washington, D.C., native Camille Blackman cleverly navigates the friend zone on her new song “Just Friends,” her first this year after 2025 saw her release an amazing 14 singles.

■ Damaged Bug, “Over-Exposed” — OSEES’ John Dwyer has unveiled “Over-Exposed,” the latest single from his side project Damaged Bug — left-field, synth-driven music that he describes as “abstract and poppy, fried and sugary.” There’s a side helping of woozy sax on “Over-Exposed,” which appears on the new Damaged Bug album “ZUZAK” (out March 20).

■ Los Frankies, “Sugar Town” — Friendly reminder that Los Frankies’ debut LP “D.E.D. City” has dropped. “Sugar Town,” following “Gunna Wanna,” is a cover song by Swedish punk artist ShitKid. Watch the music video that plays like a fever dream here.

■ Jacob the Horse, “The Black Hand” — Indie-punkers Jacob The Horse follow “Tympanis” with “The Blank Hand,” off their upcoming new album “At Least It’s Almost Over” out March 20.

■ Pegzilla, “Virginia Werewolf” — Doom-rock trio Pegzilla follows “Bootlicker” with “Virginia Werewolf,” a heavy track that plays with time signatures off their forthcoming album “Disobedience.”

■ The Furys, “Your Eyes” — The Furys go way back: Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the power-pop band co-founded Jeff Wolfe, and (fun fact) they were the first rock band to play at the legendary Madame Wongs. So how to mark that golden anniversary? The Furys (Wolfe, now with Dave Lewty, Cliff Roman, John Dimambro and Paolo Dell’Olio) will issue a new album later this year, and this week they teased it with the new single “Your Eyes.” Live tonight at the Redwood.

■ KillRadio, “Attention Please” — Long-running political punk-rockers KillRadio have resurfaced with “Attention Please,” their first new original since “Election Year” in 2020. Stay angry, friends.

■ Dutch Interior, “Go F*ck Yourself” — Well. Um. Mellow fellows Dutch Interior released the new EP “It’s Glass” today, almost a year since their enchanting full-length “Moneyball.” The sextet teased the EP with the singles “Ground Scores” and “Play the Song,” so we confess we were not quite ready for “Go F*ck Yourself,” an instruction that is delivered in the Nicest Possible Way. Live tonight at the Lodge Room (sold out).

■ Carter Vogel, “Say My Name” — Baltimore native Carter Vogel debuted in 2019 and in 2020 released the EP “Things I Can’t Get Back.” He continues his explorations in R&B/funk with the new single “Say My Name.”

■ Lucy & La Mer, “Dammit” — And now for our playlist-ending cover song: Always good to hear from pop-folkie Lucy LaForge, even when she’s covering a trifle from a band full of trifles, Blink-182.