The land of sunshine and giant palms seems a strange breeding ground for the rustic sounds of the Record Company, but as the L.A. trio’s “Superdead” EP testifies, the blues can happen anywhere. Director John Cizmas’ video for “This Crooked City” flashes to the alluring and the hardscabble while singer-guitarist Chris Vos, bassist Alex Stiff […]
If this item seems a little discombobulated, that’s because it’s … hard … to type … when … you’re … on … the floor. That might be the destination for longtime followers of Bleu, the pure pop craftsman born William James McCauley III. The Berklee-educated, magnificently sideburned songwriter, whose first four albums pretty much put […]
Steelwells resurfaced in 2012 with the same lineup but with a slightly different sound on their “Cool Kids” EP. The Orange County-based quintet continue to work within this bold, new sound palette and share another new track titled “Dead Song.” Recorded live at Lost Ark Studios in San Diego, its tone is, again, less jovial […]
L.A.-based singer-songwriter Maxime Sokolinski – who’s played in his big sister Soko’s band, as well as with Daniel Johnston, Adanowsky and L.A.’s Sweaters – stepped out of the shadows in 2011 when he released a little bedroom pop gem, “Feels Like,” anonymously, to YouTube. The 25-year-old has spent recent months back in his native France, […]
Summer weather has arrived in L.A., and shoegazing duo Cobalt Cranes take an appropriate drive in their self-directed music video for “Head in the Clouds.” There’s nothing like a driving into the desert with the top down, but what do you do when you see something glowing in neon colors? If it resembles anything close […]
The L.A. trio Rucky Punch is not the first local outfit to indulge their Talking Heads fetish, and they probably won’t be the last. But in their own slightly goofball, punk-rock, lo-fi way, they’ve nailed it on their new single. The brainchild of John Predny (Underground Railroad to Candyland), Zack Thompson (Selling LA) and Rukio […]
Not to obsess, but Cillie Barnes’ single “Brainwash” possesses about everything you’d want in a pop song, except maybe an easy way to categorize it. Razor-sharp lyrics, alternately sung and rapped (reminiscent of the Neighbourhood), a spry melody, a rhythm you’d imagine crowds could bounce along with – the woman behind the Cillie Barnes persona, […]
Anybody else looking forward to Make Music Pasadena? The Saturday of free shows at multiple venues throughout Old Pasadena is coming June 1, and last week the festival announced a lineup featuring the likes of Tanlines, YACHT, We Are Scientists, Robert Delong, Taken by Trees, Superhumanoids, Las Cafeteras, Hunter Hunted and more (with a local […]
Graham MacRae has covered a lot of turf in Los Angeles. He worked for a major label; he now runs his own promotions firm; and he’s an illustrator (though he calls them “elaborate doodlings”). He even once co-owned a locally famous Echo Park record store (RIP, six years ago this month). MacRae’s songwriting has been […]
The first single from Boardwalk establishes the L.A. duo as aspirants to the legacy of the likes of Mazzy Star and Slowdive. Originally starting as a collaboration between Mike Edge and Amber Quintero, Boardwalk was joined by Mark Noseworthy (Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros) on guitar and bass, and the band is finishing up […]
