Ears Wide Open: Bigelf, the Marches
Kevin Bronson on
1
[Heard on the local beat …]
L.A. quartet Bigelf is described as “30 years behind and five years ahead of what’s happening,” and I’ll buy that. Fronted by Laurel Canyon-bred Damon Fox, the foursome channels Black Sabbath into a sprawling, gnarly mountain of sound – and while you’re not liable to find many of the hipsterati fawning over their vintage prog-rock, rest assured Bigelf has its well-deserved supporters. Their latest album “Cheat the Gallows” came out on Linda Perry’s Custard Records.
||| Download: “Money It’s Evil”
||| Live: Bigelf headlines the Key Club on Thursday.
The Marches’ album “4 a.m. Is the New Midnight” is a little like a teenager’s bedroom – strewn with clutter. But move a pile of dirty socks here, and maybe a stack of books there, and you’ll find that $20 bill you lost three months ago. The band’s eclectic mix of blippy electro, caustic synths and bass- and horn-heavy Motown reveals some soul in their machines; think of it as dance music for robots with really bad dance moves. Jazz … trip-hop … indie … It might be a test, but boring, it ain’t.
||| Download: “Bad Touch”
||| Live: No dates scheduled.
[…] of the band, John Tempesta on drums, Grant Fitzpatrick on bass and Damon Fox (of local prog greats Big Elf) on keys, delivered the kind of show one would expect from a band 35 years into their […]