Don’t blame the mysterious man in the photo for wanting to stay in the shadows. Dr. Doctor is something in the way of a coming-out party for Ralph Torrefranca, who is known around L.A. for managing bands, not playing in them. There’s some folk music in Torrefranca’s past, but Dr. Doctor does himself no shame […]
The new album from Matt Adams — the psychedelic pop explorer who does business at the front of the Blank Tapes — doesn’t do much exploring. Because that would mean getting up off the couch, metaphorically. What “Geodesic Dome Piece” (which comes out Tuesday via Royal Oakie Tapes & Records) offers, however, is an amiable […]
Sean Watkins has released solo albums before, but the 37-year-old singer-guitarist from the Grammy Award-winning folk outfit Nickel Creek has largely treated them as side projects. Not so with 2014’s “All I Do Is Lie,” his fourth solo outing and first since 2006, which he is calling a new chapter in his career. The album, […]
The dreamy psychedelic folk of the Tulips (not to be confused with TÜLIPS) seems perfect for slow drives home through deserted streets in the wee hours. The sextet — Jared Robert Petrich, Dana Rogge, Corey James Gash, Adam Halferty, Nick Price and Jonathan Snyder — releases its sophomore album “Echo Blue” on Jan. 27, and […]
Seagoat, the long-distance collaboration between singer-songwriter Colby Miller and producer Neal Harris, debuted last summer with the twinkling electro stunner “Comfort Girl,” part of a campaign to fund their first album. That campaign having been successful, the duo will release the self-titled “Seagoat” on Feb. 3. It’s 37 minutes of electronic finery, fastidiously arranged and […]
Ten years ago next month, in February 2005, the hottest residency in Los Angeles was not in some hip Eastside club, but at the Viper Room. There, a quintet who had pulled up roots in Aberdeen, Scotland, and relocated to L.A. turned the Sunset Strip on its collective ear. They were called Driveblind (after the […]
The new album from L.A. septet Seasons was expected last fall, but as anybody who’s juggled an indie band with real-life issues knows, things change. That’s the theme of the aforementioned album, “Everything Changes,” as the band has regrouped from lineup changes and various existential issues to prepare their first release since their four-EP cycle […]
It’s been almost three years since Auditorium’s last release — 2012’s “Nights Worth Living” EP, which followed the 2011 full-length “Be Brave.” Suffice to say Spencer Berger has lost none of the golden-throated splendor that made those releases so distinctive. A Queens native who from age 9 to 12 sang in the Metropolitan Opera, logging […]
[File under: Stuff I Missed 2014 …] Young Creatures debuted in 2012 before elevating their profile in 2013 with their “Habitats” EP, which coupled singer-guitarist Mike Post’s lyrical heft with crashing, shape-shifting percussion and stabbing guitars. For their full-length “Fear All the Things,” released in late September, Post and bandmates Andrew Gleason, Spencer King and […]
[File under: Stuff I Missed 2014 …] Young L.A. sextet Decorator grew by leaps and bounds in 2014. Moving on from their original moniker Raheem Cohen, they polished their sound and released the four-song “Transit” EP in July. There, they fuse garage-pop with ’80s/’90s funk and R&B, loosing party-friendly grooves on their bouncy single “Mad […]
