Faster than you can say “Maybe ‘Black Jesus’ isn’t such a great band name,” Los Angeles sextet Races are signing to Frenchkiss Records, the New York City-based imprint that has been home to bands such as Local Natives, the Dodos, the Hold Steady and Passion Pit. A formal announcement is expected today. With one 7-inch […]
As part of the Binary Entertainment trio NightWaves, Josh Legg trades in the sheen of the 1980s – bright, nostalgic synths that slip-slide over Cure beats. Legg’s solo excursion Goldroom updates everything, with frolicsome guitar, friskier, tropical beats and spacious production. “Morgan’s Bay” is kind of a summery disco cocktail, probably blue and orange and […]
[New tunes from three artists about whom we’ve blogged recently …] Active Child, “Hanging On” (via Adult Swim) – The debut album from Pat Grossi, “You Are All I See,” is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated releases of the second half of 2011, and songs like the aching, dreamy “Hanging On” are the […]
If you witnessed any of the Dante Vs. Zombies residency last month at the Echo, you’ll chuckle at the “Dante Vs. Zombies School of Fitness.” Because, of course, elbow bends are chief exercise at any function at which Dante Adrian White presides. The frontman has some fun with that notion in the video for “Oblivion” […]
The first album from Everest, 2008’s “Ghost Notes,” tested the waters of Americana while, the Los Angeles quintet would admit, not exactly going where no flannel shirt-wearing rockers had gone before. Two years later they came back with the assertive, anthemic “On Approach,” stamping themselves as arena-worthy rockists who could seemingly move mountains with a […]
Like his Rilo Kiley bandmates, bassist Pierre de Reeder has stayed busy since the L.A. indie-rockers last released an album in 2007. To inventory: Jenny Lewis has released a solo album, and then last year’s “I’m Having Fun Now” with Jenny & Johnny; Blake Sennett emerged this year with new Elected album, “Bury Me in […]
On Summer Darling’s self-titled album, released one year ago this week, the L.A. quartet wound prickly guitars and passionate lyrics into powder-keg indie-rock that seemed loosed from the ’90s. If flashbacks to the darned-near-mathematical precision of bands such as Cursive and Braid weren’t reward enough, Summer Darling exuded a working-class, no-frills aesthetic that ran counter […]
What do you do for an encore if you’ve released three albums in barely over a year? If you’re the L.A. noise-rock duo Alpine Decline, you get out of the country. The two-piece – the project of guitarist Jonathan Zeitlin and drummer Pauline Mu (both formerly of Mezzanine Owls) – last week announced the release […]
If it’s July, it must be time for the Also I Like to Rock series at the Hammer Museum. The free shows, with two bands performing per night (along with KCRW-FM DJs), go off every Thursday of the month, starting July 7 with Graffiti6 and Eastern Conference Champions. We figured you’d like to hear what’s […]
Sometimes all it takes is one great pop hook to reel in some attention, and Echo Park-based the Dead Ships have certainly perked our ears up. Their self-titled EP offers no-nonsense garage rock featuring pop choruses that soar and stick long after listening. For a fairly new duo, Devlin McCluskey and Christopher Spindelilus have refreshingly […]
