No, we’re not talking about your favorite Tom Jones-loving “Fresh Prince” character. Carlton is an L.A. by-way-of Washington D.C. trio who describes their sound as alternative pop, but their new single “Drift” is proof the members Richard Wynne, Brian Jones, Brendan McCusker have steered their sound more toward the ever-popular synth-pop genre. Whereas their debut EP […]
Derek Brambles and Eric Johnson know their way around a song – the duo have been paying some bills penning commercial music around L.A. for a while now. The new project that singer-guitarist Brambles and bassist-keyboardist-vocalist Johnson have with guitarist Nick Setter and drummer Ryan Silver is called the King’s English. And it’s simply an […]
By Brian Cleary In the press release for White Fence’s new LP, it states: “The gliss and glitter that sounds forth from ‘For the Recently Found Innocent’ has a shine all its own, and for reasons too.†On a separate note, I’m about 20-30 pages into a book of rantings by The Fall’s Mark E. […]
The third Chinatown Summer Nights of 2014 is two weeks away: On Aug. 9, Moving Units headline a Live Music Stage lineup that boasts the Peach Kings, the New Electric Sound, the Cold & Lovely, Magic Bronson and the Rebel Light. To get you properly amped for the night, or maybe as a way of […]
There’s never been a shortage of My Bloody Valentine acolytes in these parts, but San Fernando Valley quintet Draag make a heckuva first impression – on their self-titled album and, it turns out, in person. When the band – Adrian Acosta, Adrian De La Cruz, Jessica Huang, Carlos Michel and Danny Rossi – made their live debut […]
Archer Black’s debut album “Forgiveness Is a Weapon” in early 2012 was a jaw-droppingly ambitious exercise in orchestral (and some might say post-) rock, with singer/composer Dustin Morgan (ex-the Autumns) conjuring up apocalyptic images with sprawling soundscapes. Archer Black’s new EP, out next week, is a no less extravagant production, but the music is more […]
The vintage folk stylings of the Wild Reeds recall a distant, ostensibly more naive California where one had to be neither blind nor especially brave to see and do all that is right and good. On its debut “Blind and Brave” (due Aug. 9), the L.A. quintet submits that they are oblivious to today’s trenchant […]
Just when it seems like baroque pop had gone out of fashion, L.A.’s Wartime Recitals come out of nowhere with their whimsical keyboard riffs, sweet harmonies, sweeping violin and glockenspiel accents. The sextet’s musical gusto not only serves as a natural pick-me-up but also has the depth that would attract fans of Los Campesinos!, Fanfarlo and […]
The latest tease from Wildcat! Wildcat!’s forthcoming debut album is something that’d work great in a planetarium. “Holloway (Hey Love)” is a constellation of twinkling synths backing a meteor shower of falsetto harmonies, all propelled by a marching beat. The results are lush and almost choral – ever since their early singles, the L.A. outfit […]
Starting as the collaboration between Jamie Leffler and Robert Cepeda, DWNTWN has released two EPs of buoyant, poignant dream-pop. The song “Heroine,” from April’s self-titled release, is especially heart-rending – Leffler wrote it about her father, Howie Epstein, who died 11 years ago from complications relating to drug use. Says Leffler: “I wrote this song about […]
