In the new single from Nacosta – the first in a planned series of monthly releases – the L.A. quartet marries ’60s jangle and ’90s noise-pop to great effect. Bands such as Ride come to mind, but songwriter-guitarist Brandon Graham takes a less obvious compositional tack than a lot of the contemporary popgazers Ride inspired. Graham, […]
It’s not surprising to hear that members of pop quartet Montë Mar have been busy on tour with other bands (Bill Zimmerman played keys with America and Kyle Crane has been drumming with Everest). But even with their hectic schedules as in-demand musicians, the band has been working together to release songs, one at a […]
The online introduction to Jeffertitti’s Nile describes his role on the planet as “cosmic interpreter,” which is as good a place as any to start diving into the psychedelic explorations of the enigmatic Jeffertitti Moon (aka Jeff Ramuno). Let’s start in the now: Jeffertitti’s Nile’s new single “Upside,” with a guitar that snakes then swirls […]
Sitting on the cusp of mainstream pop is Jhameel, a multi-instrumentalist who has not only released his second album, “The Human Condition,” but also steadily gained popularity on YouTube and the Hype Machine from his two series “Waves” and “Are You Free,” in which he released a new single every week (with “drunk” covers included). […]
The softening power of time can age the offensive into something agreeable and, after several decades, much of punk rock has more or less lost its bite – note the number of West Coast bands now working in forms of lo-fi, surf or stoner rock. Ostensibly aiming for something more aggressive, San Diego based “glitch-punk-rock-dubstep” […]
The Ross Sea Party has gone and released a really solid indie-rock album, and in an era when good indie-rock seems to have the same cool quotient as driving through Chick-Fil-A in gas-guzzling Oldsmobile. That is, unless you’re a band doing the garage thing, or the retro thing, or the folk thing, or the soul-thing, […]
One of the nifty little vinyl releases that sneaked onto the shelves on Record Store Day was a split 7-inch featuring a previously unreleased song from Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, “Give Me a Sign,” and “Raven’s Song,” a tune off Aaron Embry’s breathtaking album “Tiny Prayers.” We missed it a couple months ago, […]
[Maybe it’s because of the recent deluge of covers, including the Record Company’s great EP, Seven Saturdays’ take on the Cure and the songs on the New Limb’s mixtape, but today we were reminded that Buzz Bands LA has a lot of nifty cover songs in the queue. Here we share three – I’ll have […]
If there were ever a song befitting “the happiest breakup ever,” Dani Buncher and Scott Simons have written it. And after reading the story of how the couple dismantled but still stayed together as a band, their band name TeamMate isn’t just cute anymore – it’s endearing. Even if bubblegum pop isn’t your thing, Simons’ […]
The Steelwells emerged from Orange County in late 2009 with their “Shallow on the Draft,” a bright, guitar-based EP notable for its colorful melodies and sunny disposition. But unlike a lot of newbies who poked their heads out of the studio at the time, the indie-rock quintet seemed in no big hurry to attempt world […]
