Kevin Bronson on July 23rd, 2009

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[New and notable from L.A. bands:]

Preppy indie-poppers Princeton are gearing up for their debut release, “Cocoon of Love,” due Sept. 29 on Kanine Records. The band’s two EPs have revealed their music to be sweet and very college-educated (though its name is derived from the street in Santa Monica where the group grew up), but – and I’m decidedly in the minority among the Eastside club crew – I’ve never found it to rise to rise above cloying. Here’s a track off the new album:

||| Download: “Calypso Gold”

||| Live: Princeton performs Saturday at the Night Lights benefit party (with Voxhaul Broadcast and others) to support 826LA. The show is at 8 p.m. at the E2 Building, 941 E. 2nd St., downtown. Details here.

Vaudeville’s second full-length, “Devil’s Knocking,” came out this week on local imprint Otik Records. The quartet, which includes the Voyeurs’ Jonathan Hylander and Sean Johnson along with Daniel Woods and Jacob Maltinsky, have shown themselves to be stylistic changelings in previous work. The title track introduces itself with blaring horns before settling into a solid classic-rock groove:

||| Stream: “Devil’s Knocking” [audio:http://www.mediafire.com/file/gw4owjzmm0y/Vaudeville_ Devil’s Knocking.mp3]

||| Download: “Driving”

||| Live: Vaudeville celebrates its album release with a show Friday at Pehrspace.

Photo: Princeton by Laura Heffington