Local folk-rockers Olin & the Moon are a pretty tight crew – and their sweet Americana has always sounded like it – so there’s a pretty good chance there would never have been a David LaBrel solo project if not for that fateful night over a year ago at Harvard & Stone. That was the […]
“Falling” … It’s kind of what everybody’s done for the sisters Haim, who since last fall’s “Forever” EP and November’s “Don’t Save Me” single have taken both sides of the Atlantic by storm and tried to find time to work on a full-length release. The latest single “Falling” came out in February, but this week […]
Jangle-pop maestros Army Navy are at it again, plotting their third album (due later this year) and generally parting any clouds that block your musical blue skies. As singer-guitarist Justin Kennedy and mates have done since their sparkling 2008 debut “Army Navy,” the trio trades in chiming chords and boy-and-door verve, their early work recalling […]
Having been a linchpin in the dirty-glam outfit Louis XIV, Brian Karscig knows a thing or two about swagger. The San Diego-bred singer-guitarist-producer, now fronting the Nervous Wreckords with Lindsay Matheson and Daniel Schraer, also seems acutely aware that his brand of Mick Jagger/Marc Bolan/Bon Scott gamesmanship has its detractors. At whom he fondly thumbs […]
The winds of revivalism show no signs of abating. In fact, in the case of Michigan-bred, L.A.-based Mayer Hawthorne, they keep pickup up steam. The singer-songwriter-producer (and recently Bearded One) announced this week that he has a new album on this summer. It’s titled “Tropical Storm Hawthorne,” and the first single “Designer Drug” is a […]
The legacy of Medicine has been referenced increasingly in recent years – main man Brad Laner’s continued explorations is experimental psychedelia is one reason, but another is the current wave of nu-gazers who have made the one-forgotten Los Angeles band influential. Probably best known outside cult circles for crashing the Cure/STP/Rage/NIN party on the soundtrack […]
The fusion of Motown and dub-step don’t initially sound appealing, but L.A.’s Caught a Ghost has made “soul-step” a steppingstone for its sound. Along the way, we realized that we like what Jesse Nolan and his crew were doing, and they not only kept churning out the tunes but have also continued to put out […]
Broken Anchor’s debut album is like a five-course meal for the melody-starved. The release, “Fresh Lemonade” (due in July), follows a trio of 2012 EPs that thrust singer-songwriter (and Hotel Café regular) Austin Hartley-Leonard into the full-band realm, as he teamed up first with producer Brad Gordon and then drummer Mike Duffy to fashion a […]
Although Stephanie Meyers’ focus on aliens this time around still doesn’t have some buying into her teen romance novels, the first single from the soundtrack for “The Host” does, without a doubt, induce butterflies. Pat Grossi – aka Active Child – who hasn’t released anything since his stunning 2011 debut “You Are All I See” […]
Talk about a star-studded lineup. If you haven’t heard of L.A.’s psychedelic outfit Thrillionaire yet, chances are you’ve heard the talents of their members on several other records. Fronted by Jen Turner (formerly of Here We Go Magic and guitarist for Natalie Merchant) and Henrietta Tiefenthaler on bass, programming and sound design, Thrillionaire also boasts producer Joey […]
