The Lonely Wild’s debut long-player “The Sun As It Comes” was filled with the kind of vein-bulging anthems about emotional duress and social upheaval that somehow made you feel better about the said conditions after you heard them. The quintet – Andrew Carroll, Jessi Williams, Andrew Schneider, Dave Farina and Ryan Ross – addresses different neuroses on […]
Orange County native Jake McMullen fronted the Americana outfit York in 2012 and last year went on his own, releasing an EP in collaboration with fellow Orange Countian Ellex Bree. The latter was recorded in Nashville, and this year, McMullen, 21, relocated to Music City USA to further his songwriting exploits. Last week he unveiled […]
Movie buffs might recognize the locale for WATERS’ new video from the film “Drive” – it’s the Pink Motel and its coffee shop Cadillac Jack’s, situated in mid-century splendor in the nether reaches of the San Fernando Valley. And rock fans will recognize “I Feel Everything” as the single from WATERS’ new “It All Might […]
Chicago-based four piece Twin Peaks (insert obligatory TV show joke here) have suddenly found themselves being billed as one of the vanguardists of a rock â€n’ roll revival, thanks to their sophomore album “Wild Onion.” Its growth and diversity build on the promise of 2013’s “Sunken,” which was recorded in frontman Cadien Lake James’ basement […]
L.A.-based rockers Dengue Fever remain in a class – no, a world – of their own, melding the psych-pop of singer Chhom Nimol’s native Cambodia with vintage surf- and garage-rock to form a euphoric exotica. Over more than a decade that has seen the band – Nimol, along with Zac and Ethan Holtzman, Senon Williams, David Ralicke […]
In 2010, about the time the wheels started to wobble for California popsters Rooney (who were releasing and touring behind their final album), the quintet’s guitarist Taylor Locke was just getting rolling. His side project Taylor Locke & the Roughs released two albums seven months apart. But except for launching the (great) cover band Rumours: […]
“Encino,” the new EP from Henry Wolfe, is the singer-songwriter’s first release since his 2011 full-length “Linda Vista,” which put his evocative but understated music on the map. Like the title track, “Miracle Mile” draws inspiration from from Wolfe’s time in Los Angeles wrestling with the city’s dualities and geography. Produced by Thom Monahan (Pernice […]
The two latest singles from the Controversy take a more arty approach than most of the synth-pop duos raising our blood-sugar levels. At the very least, “Queen of Chinatown” (especially) and “Two Voices” carry an air of sophistication that “Real” – the 2012 album from the twosome of Laura Vall and Thomas Hjorth – only hinted […]
Olivia Jean was a member of the short-lived garage rock trio the Black Belles, who released an album in 2011 that was produced by Jack White and released on Third Man Records. As a solo artist, she continues to be mentored by White – her debut “Bathtub Love Killings,” which features new material and some […]
In terms of sheer scope, few albums to emerge from Los Angeles artists this year can match Bell Gardens’ sophomore effort “Slow Dawns for Lost Conclusions.” Kan Wakan comes to mind, or Warpaint. Or Ariel Pink in his quirky way. On their 45-minute long-player, Bell Gardens stitches together a warm blanket of keys, guitars, pedal […]
