Although yOya’s strengths are crafting upbeat songs radiating warmth and kindness, each single they’re released in anticipation of their forthcoming “Go North” EP is bolder than the last. To follow up the dulcet tones of “I’ll be the Fire,” yOya’s new track “King of Nothing” simply soars with its immaculate harmonies and supreme balance of […]
It’s been three years since Austra released their highly regarded debut “Feel It Break.” Fans of the Toronto-based band fronted by Katie Stelmanis won’t be let down by their sophomore release “Olympia.” Opting to ditch the programming and loops, Austra recorded live in the studio to reference everything from Trax Records classic cuts to Yazoo’s “Upstairs at […]
For his second album “Watching Movies With The Sound Off,” out this week on Rostrum Records, Mac Miller brought in production assistance from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Diplo, Clams Casino, Earl Sweatshirt, Flying Lotus and The Alchemist. The Pittsburgh rapper also produced a third of the album himself, under his alias Larry Fisherman, including […]
We’ve followed We Barbarians since their days in Long Beach when they first started shaping their gritty, arena-ready indie rock. They were scrappy cousins to Cold War Kids, releasing a roof-raising album “There’s This There’s That” (2009) and a couple EPs that represented a great start to realizing their grand vision. They moved to New […]
Fans who’ve had 2007’s “Further North” on repeat since their first crush will be happy to know that Scottish-American singer-songwriter Johnathan Rice is back. Not that the L.A.-based troubadour ever went anywhere, of course, except to form a tandem with girlfriend Jenny Lewis as Jenny & Johnny. Rice’s new solo album “Good Graces” (out Sept. […]
Clare Means’ voice ranges from a mere flicker to full-on conflagration; there’s always a little smoke there, as if she’s been singed, or done some singeing herself. Her new album “War for Love” isn’t so much all-out combat as it is a lyrical boxing match – Means’ nimble wordplay has been her calling card since […]
“Habitats,” the second EP from Young Creatures, suggests that the L.A. quartet is a psych-rock band in pop clothing. The foursome of singer-guitarist Mike Post, guitarist Justin Cook, bassist Spencer King and drummer Michael Escalante, who formerly went by the name Four Round & the Sound, plays it pretty straight-ahead lyrically and compositionally, but their […]
Diverse L.A. producer-cum-rapper Jonwayne is readying his first non-instrumental mixtape as a wordsmith, “Marion Morrison.” The first track to appear is “Notes to Myself,” with the rapper giving himself just that, over a dusty and dreamy vintage J Dilla beat. His rhymes range from over-analytical and self-deprecating, to insightful and uplifting. He slaps himself with, […]
Weird things may happen if you ignore those “No Trespassing” signs. At least that’s what SoCal quintet Warships learn in their Frederik Boll- and Jon Shoer-directed video for “Heater.” It all starts with a box (everything mystical always starts with mysterious box) and a cloud of smoke. Ladies appear out of thin air and the band […]
As the band name has gotten shorter, the legend of L.A. quintet Dignitary grows incrementally longer. Originally known as The Dignitary Loss of Richard Roe, and then just Dignitary Loss, the five-piece makes mortality-obsessed rock noir that pairs the splendidly imperfect boy/girl vocals of guitarist Michael Cuenca (ex-The Lips) and keyboardist Amberlie Bankoff, last spotted […]
