LexiconDon, as well as many of their Binary labelmates, have been at the forefront of the Los Angeles chillwave movement, refining and honing a distinct blend of blurry synths and infectious melodies into dreamy pop songs on their debut release, 2010’s “Pink + Blue.” “Burn” is the second single off the trio’s follow-up to that […]
On their debut album “An Aside,” Black Swan Runners manage to sound like the best of the indie-rock ’90s without sounding dated. The quartet, formed from the ashes of CoCo B’s, relocated from Orange County to the Humboldt County burg of Ferndale to make the album, which simmers with tense bass lines and stabbing guitars […]
As a lover of Westerns, spaghetti Westerns and Western omelettes, I am completely riveted by the video for Lord Huron’s “Time to Run” – especially the part at the end when it says “To Be Continued.” The work of Evan Weinerman (who does business as Arms Race), the story, with Indonesian subtitles, tracks our protagonist (he’s […]
Gangi’s “Railways no. 1-27” is one of those sound collages that threatens go off the tracks and at any minute but never quite does. The spacey, sample-added excursion is the lead track on the L.A. duo’s sophomore album “Gesture Is,” which will finally be released on Oct. 2. We say “finally” because it’s taken Matt […]
L.A. experimental quintet Tes Elations make music that is hypnotic and even eerie, but most of all, it’s intriguing. Barrie Rose’s vocals coo as much as they yelp between the fluid cello lines, wailing guitar and potent drums. Together, Rose, Isaac Takeuchi, Christopher Votek, Andrew Lessman and Alex Noice are a conglomerate of musicians who […]
Well, well, well … three brothers named Blackwell and a single called “Farewell Well Well.” Not a bad introduction to Canto, a teenaged trio taking on gritty blues-rock. Siblings Seamus (vocals/guitar), Aidan (bass) and David (drums) seem to like things in threes – their debut album is titled “Ha Ha Ha,” and it mashes Zep-inspired riffage […]
The “Nuggets” boxed sets are more fun than this. Really. The exploration of 1960s surf-rock by the Los Angeles quartet Allah-Las feel like a laboratory experiment. They’ve nailed the sound, perfected the vibe and aced the test – much in the same way pop genius Todd Rundgren did in 1980 with his recombinant Beatles chords on […]
Singer Greta Valenti invokes the adage “Rode hard / and put away wet” in Well Hung Heart’s first single “Devil,” and you could certainly say that about the electric blues in general. It’s all been done, with varying degrees of fury, fuzz and filth, right? Maybe, but the form is in pretty capable hands here, […]
The New Limb have grown by leaps and bounds since the Orange County-bred, L.A.-based quintet released “Sounds People Can Hear” in 2010. Their lushly orchestrated indie-pop, riding the sky-blue boy/girl vocals of Joey Chavez and Lauren Salamone Perez, goes straight for the jugular and mostly hits the mark. Chavez certainly does with his emotive falsetto […]
The Peach Kings, the L.A.-based duo of Paige Wood and Steven Trezevant, had us reaching for another bottle of something strong with last year’s “Trip Wop” EP, a mash-up of influences that no matter how much you stirred added up to something sexy. Their space age lounge-ready blues gets sharper on their new “Handsome Moves” […]
