Tic Tic Boom! haven’t looked back since they’ve found their strengths in writing dance music, and their confidence has only grown with time. Electro-pop tunes like “Bees” on last year’s “Reasons & Rhymes” sparkled with an eagerness to shimmy bodies on to the dance floor, but new songs such as “For Feeling” off their forthcoming […]
In three short years, So Many Wizards have become a staple in the DIY scene for L.A., and they’ve never been afraid to color outside of the lines during their time together. Experimenting with unpredictable song structures and textures, Nima Kazerouni, Erik Felix, Frank Maston and Geoff Geis have released two EPs that have continually […]
The Other Side of Morning gets up on the same side of the bed as a lot of ’90s alt-rock giants without really stretching the formula, but the L.A. quartet of James Werner, Kyle Wyman, Thomas Yagodinski and Tim McDonnell has watched is album “Letters From Your Love, The Madman” rise and shine. Since its […]
The Breakups are one of those local bands you should never take for granted – steady hands, making music around their day jobs and responsibilities in other bands and, in songwriter Jake Gideon’s case, confidently carrying the torch of true-blue power-pop. “Running Jumping Falling Shouting,” out today, is the Breakups’ first release since 2008’s “Eat […]
Ah, FIDLAR are at it again. And we’re not referring to whatever Zac Carper has going on in the press photo. The quartet is leading the charge among the cadre of young L.A. bands doing stripped-down garage-pop that’s skate-, surf- and party-friendly. From their early digital singles to last year’s “DIYDUI” EP for White Iris, […]
No matter the message of the song, Fitz & the Tantrums‘ new music video for “LOV” might even make those who usually scowl at Valentine’s Day events a bit more upbeat about the Hallmark holiday. Combining old clips from just about any genre and era of dance (highlights including Bollywood scenes, ABBA stare-offs and showgirls), […]
The brothers Wardell – Patrick, Sean and Brian, who hail from Huntington Beach – have a lot going for them: Sibling harmonies, crisp guitar work that blurs the line between Americana and indie-rock and a band name that’s sure to get a chuckle: Moostache. If the band’s 2009 debut album “The Body Disagrees” felt merely […]
NO seemed to materialize out of nowhere last fall, a DIY quintet with a seemingly career-assassinating name, fronted by a genial man with a Kiwi accent, and dispensing hopeful, noir-ish indie-rock that recalls the National. The genial man is Bradley Hanan Carter, who first came to the U.S. as guitarist/backup singer for New Zealand rockers […]
You surely have the Grammys on the brain, but the L.A. Buzz Bands Show must go on. So I will make my appointed rounds at KCSN (88.5 FM, streaming at KCSN.org). Tonight’s show, which kicks off at 7, features an hour of SoCal music that includes new tunes from The Child, Soft Swells, Haim, Audra […]
Anybody who’s heard Haim over the past few years, or seen sisters Este, Danielle and Alana unleash classic-rock covers with their parents, has had to wonder: What songs are hiding underneath all that long flowing hair? What will these twentysomethings sound like when their writing grows into their estimable chops? These week we found out, […]
