You could write a a book about the perseverance (now into its third decade) of L.A. indie-rockers the Black Watch. In fact, Ph.D.-wielding frontman John Andrew Frederick did, back in the ’90s, titled “The King of Good Intentions.” What those intentions, not to mention the years of doggedness, have yielded for TBW are an estimable […]
In March, L.A. quintet Walking Sleep unveiled the first of three digital EPs the band has crafted in a tarp factory. The idea was to resist over-finessing their new songs in a studio, and so far, the industrial space has ever-so-subtly rewarded the indie-poppers’ sweet/sharp dynamic. It’s evidenced in “Someone Who Could Be Loved,” the […]
The Belle Brigade, the new L.A. folk-rock outfit fronted by siblings Barbara and Ethan Gruska (pictured at SXSW), have their sights set on April 19, when their self-titled debut album comes out on Reprise Records. My profile of the Gruska siblings appears in today’s LA Weekly – check it out. Meanwhile, the band will be […]
Nothing against Benjamin Hoste’s excellent video for this song, but Canadian chillwaver Teen Daze has taken a kitchen appliance to Seven Saturdays’ “True Romance,” turning Jonathan Haskell’s perfectly languorous composition into a palpitation-inducing mess. The track is part of “Secret Things,” a free six-song EP that offers retooled Seven Saturdays material (the Sun Airway, White […]
The solo debut of Aska Matsuyima – aka ASKA – started innocently enough: The pianist recorded the song “There Are Many of Us” and shared it with friends, one of whom was filmmaker Spike Jonze, who used the track in his short “I’m Here.” That’s enough to inspire anybody, right? The Japanese-born, L.A.-based songstress, a […]
Just in time for the sure-to-be-hazy days of summer, Morgan Kibby and friends spend a day at the beach in the video for “Mountaineer,” the poppiest of the songs off White Sea’s debut EP, “This Frontier.” With its de rigeur face-painting and sun-splashed vibe, the Gigi Nicolas-directed clip (which premiered over the weeked on mtvU) […]
College friendships blossoming into something more is not an uncommon beginning to a band’s back story. In fact, plenty of collegiate buddies have gone on to sell out arenas together through music. In a similarly hopeful but local vein, Y LUV may be on their way to playing together for crowds larger than any “Battle […]
On several occasions, the music of Rainbow Arabia has sent me running from the room, its mish-mosh of beats and seemingly willful abrasiveness adding up to hipster posing rather than anything truly avant-garde. (Their theater-clearing supporting set for Julian Casablancas in late 2009 was evidence my ears were not alone.) That said, the husband-and-wife team […]
Hrishikesh Hirway’s electronic chamber-pop is the music of introspection, lush and layered and so effortless with its melodies you wonder why somebody hadn’t arrived at that tune before. Doing business as the One AM Radio, his 2007 album for Dangerbird Records, “This Too Will Pass,” was informed by the Yalie’s various travels; his fourth album, […]
Kyle Krone had a pretty good run as frontman of the Shys, who were signed young to Sire Records, released two albums and two EPs and earned respect for transforming their bluesy classic rock into a spectacle live. Striking out on his own, though, Krone felt drawn to his original love – the electro-driven British […]
