Ready for Carmageddon II? The weekend closure of the 405 is only about seven hours away, and the local lounge-pop outfit Vermouth is taking our transportational paralysis with a sense of humor, and a twist. They’ve recorded a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Crosstown Traffic” – with kazoos. Consider this your Friday martini lunch. ||| Download: […]
The pulsing rhythms and wall of sound in the music of Cold Showers conjure up the ghosts of Madchester. What their new single “Violent Cries” lacks in production (which is plenty) it makes up for tension and mystery. The foursome of Jonathan Weinberg, Jessie Clavin, Brian Davila, Renee Adams and Chris King has released a […]
Back in April, we were smitten by the pop chops of brothers Ryan and Taylor Lawhon, formerly of White Apple Tree, who had migrated to a project known as KO KO. There have been developments. The Lawhons are now going by the name Pacific Air, and if that sounds something akin to flying, that might […]
Ohio-bred, Berklee-educated songwriter Justin David Bocchieri has been laying low since he released a solo EP in 2009, slowly polishing the distinctly Anglophile chops that trace their origin to bands such as the Kinks and the Jam but currently reside more in building on smart, fanciful pop of the ’90s U.K. indie scene. David’s first […]
With last year’s debut EP “Cryptozoology,” L.A. quintet Handshakes displayed a firm grasp on how to make memorable indie-rock – taut songs with sticky melodies, shifting dynamics and agitated guitars. Now Drew Mottinger, Patrick Doyle, Todd Ramsey, Max Hellman and David Irelan are back with another dose. Their “Villains and Crooks” EP will be out […]
Calvin Love originally moved to L.A. from his native Edmonton, Canada, to ply his guitar skills for gone-but-not-forgotten indie rockers Red Cortez. In the background and around tours, Love embarked on a solo project he describes as “lo-fi bedroom pop” that, as many ventures of its kind do these days, trades in the gone-but-being-remembered sounds […]
“A lot of these songs came out of the raw need to transform something so painful,” Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark tells the L.A. Times in an interview published today. “Writing and singing, it’s a way to do that. That’s why music can be such an amazing healing force.” Stark’s aspirations are fulfilled on “Incorruptible Heart,” […]
During Josiah Mazzaschi’s career fronting Light FM, his music has earned comparisons to Weezer, Radiohead, the Cure and, on the L.A.-based band’s fourth full-length “Buzz Kill City” (2011), fellow Chicago natives Smashing Pumpkins. As a writer of undeniably catchy hooks and as an astute studio hand, Mazzaschi has the skills to sound like anybody he […]
If Nocturnal Youth’s dulcet tones aren’t already a staple in the Hotel Café circuit, they will be sooner than later. The duo of Samantha Pearl on guitar and vocals and Jacob Hassett on viola provide a soothing gentleness. But underneath the soft melodies lies a firm gumption. With Pearl’s past in metal and Hassett’s experience […]
Drug Cabin, whom we introduced back in June, gets a visual interpretation from director Kevin Willis for “Whatever Never,” and it’s as playful as the sunny psych-pop song itself. And if the mix of stop motion, clay animation and live acting looks familiar, it’s because Willis also directed Modest Mouse’s “Satellite Skin” and the Grammy-nominated […]
