The Warlocks sounded like the next big psych-rock giants – or at least worthy successors to Spiritualized – a decade ago when they released the druggy, dynamite “The Phoenix Album” (2002) and followed it up a couple years later with “Surgery,” for Mute. While a cloud of other bands emerged to engage in psychedelic and […]
Foreign Press is both a cover band and a spinoff act – but not in the way you generally regard either. Follow along: Back in the middle of last decade, a quartet called Richard Bivens & Foreign Press – the singer-songwriter-guitarist, joined by guitarist Ali Ghanavat, bassist Robert Pavlovich and drummer Richard Rizk (soon replaced […]
Josh Legg has had quite the year of recording and touring as Goldroom. Since he released the exquisite hit “Fifteen,” single after single has raced up the Hype Machine charts, making Goldroom one of the best assets for your summer soundtrack. Since then Legg has traded in his laptop performances for organic drums, guitars and […]
Nicole Vaughn has released two solo albums, but unlike 2011’s “Say It” and predecessor “Walk Into the Night,” Vaughn is getting ready to unleash her latest record under the moniker Ranger. Working with producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist Jon O’Brien (Young the Giant, LA Font, Yellow Red Sparks) again, her two-part album “Songs For Leaving | […]
Singer-guitarist Arden Fisher cultivates a thrilling sense of foreboding – early songs from her trio Dekades such as “Dark Horse” and “You & Him” had that standing-on-the-edge-of-the-abyss dread common in all the ’80s and ’90s electro-rock you enjoyed while wearing all black. Dekades’ debut EP, “1.1,” came out this week, and the title track is […]
Not only are some of the landscapes beautiful in the (rather hodgepodge but trippy) video for Jonathan Wilson’s “Dear Friend,” but owing to the singer-guitarist’s remarkable solos and production, the song creates soundscapes to match. In seven-plus minutes, “Dear Friend” evokes the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Neil Young without plundering any of them – Wilson […]
There’s never been any shortage of music in the Adrienne Pierce–Ari Shine household: Vancouver native Pierce has released four-albums-plus of retro-mini epics known to fans of TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Veronica Mars” and beyond; Shine’s songwriting chops have shone on his solo releases (including last year’s “Songs of Solomon”) and his work as a composer. The […]
We’ve been closely following Papa ever since Darren Weiss, Daniel Presant and company released the mega-jam “I Am the Lion King” off their “A Good Woman Is Hard to Find” EP. Their debut full-length “Tender Madness” will be released in less than a week now, but that doesn’t stop the L.A.-based band from releasing one more audio […]
That certain trio of sisters isn’t the only family band making noise in L.A. right now. Echosmith’s debut “Talking Dreams” comes out next week, and anybody unsure that what people are calling “indie-pop” is this era’s pop-punk need look no further than this album. Convenient labels aside, “Talking Dreams” is unfailingly catchy and produced (by […]
Instrumental surf music, anyone? Sure, why not. Two bands featuring the talents of some familiar faces have recent releases sure to give your Woodie a woody, or at least provide the perfect backdrop to the next retro-flavored soft drink commercial. First is “Black Sweater Massacre” (released last month), the second full-length from the Reigning Monarchs […]
