And the award for Best Opening Line of a Press Release goes to: “We’re horny. And we’re sad.” So goes the introduction to Los Angeles quintet Babes, who are only half-joking. The band – siblings Sarah, Aaron and Zach Rayne along with Bryan Jeffrey and Jeffrey John – hold that almost all art springs from […]
When Computer Magic, aka Danielle “Danz” Johnson, popped up on our local radar back in 2011, we noted how the spacey electro-pop tunes on her “Electric Fences” EP were chock-full of hooks and whimsically still on the rock edge. Johnson is now 11 releases deep (a combination of single and EPs) and her songs still have […]
Everybody loves a good comeback story. So here’s the abridged version of Indian School’s: Arturo Barrios, Justo Gonzalez and Gabriel Camacho spent the early part of last decade making dyed-in-the-mosh-pit punk rock as Audio Karate before parting ways. Fast-forward a few years, and frontman Barrios got something in the way of a reality check – […]
Mystic Braves are the latest darlings to emerge from the Burger/Lolipop/psych-band-in-every-garage scene, and one of the least original. Not that that matters anymore, because, it is repeatedly pointed out to us, music (or a style of music) is new if it’s being heard the first time. And Mystic Braves – Julian Ducatenzeiler, Tony Malacara, Cameron […]
Joie Calio and Phil Leavitt, collaborating as 7Horse, embarked on their journey into cosmic country and dirty blues three years ago, releasing the testosterone-charged full-length “Let the 7Horse Run” in 2011 and earning some notoriety when the single “Meth Lab Zoso Sticker” was tabbed by director Martin Scorcese for use in the movie (and trailer […]
Dot Hacker’s lineage is longer than a hungry family’s shopping list – with all gourmet ingredients, mind you. The highlights are that the band was born out conversations between Josh Klinghoffer and Clint Walsh when they were touring members of Gnarls Barkley back in 2006, and around the time Klinghoffer was tabbed to replace John […]
In the video for the Singles’ single “Inamorata,” an assortment of probably drunk people do some ostensibly bad karaoke. And it’s kind of perfect. Because the Singles’ full-length “Look How Fast a Heart Can Break” is full of the kind of familiar power-pop and garage-rock nuggets that live on in karaoke machines everywhere. The album, […]
It figures, with 20-year anniversaries and all, that there are odes to 1994 cropping up everywhere. It was arguably the peak of the “alternative rock” thing, and both influential chart-topping bands and underground acts were performing at their height. One nod to that year comes by way of L.A. duo of Dan Crane and Amanda […]
Tapioca & the Flea’s cherub electro-pop has been a work in progress for about three years now, since Samuel Jacob-Lopez busted out of Orange County with three pals, a synthesizer and a pocket full of woozy melodies. Now the latest single from Jacob-Lopez (along with guitarist Ronnie Watson, bassist/keyboardist Frank Alva and drummer Matt McClanahan) […]
If you need something to get over the hump on hump day, L.A. trio Criminal Hygiene has got you covered. Now back from tour with the Orwells, your beloved Echo Park party boys are back with another rowdy tune that’s got both grit and hook. “Raid” is appropriately an attack on the peace and quiet, […]
