Nik Freitas, the singer-songwriter and sideman extraordinaire (he’s played with Conor Oberst and Broken Bells and on records by Miles Kurosky of Beulah, Jason Boesel and All Smiles, among others), added a healthy dose of keyboard shimmer to the warm folk-pop on his fifth full-length, “Saturday Night Underwater.” The album came out in June on […]
Sometimes paths in life just change no matter where you plant yourself, and composer and and singer-songwriter Keegan DeWitt can testify for unexpected outcomes. Originally from Portland, Ore., DeWitt moved to New York and set his sights on theater and film while studying under key figures such as Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but after making a […]
Papa’s groove-laden take on retro indie-rock carries a sweet scent of soul, not to mention a whiff of wryness. The band – the project helmed by Girls drummer Darren Weiss (that’s his big voice up front) and boyhood pal Daniel Presant – is off to a good start. Their debut EP, “A Good Woman Is […]
At a recent backyard acoustic set in Silver Lake, Jim Ward explained the evolution of his new solo work: “I’ve always made loud music,” he said. “I started At the Drive-In with Cedric [Bixler-Zavala] when I was 17, then I spent years with Sparta and Sleepercar. This is me, not being loud.” Ward’s new album, […]
John McCauley is a busy man. After deciding to go forward with Middle Brother, the side project whose members also include the Delta Spirit’s Matt Vasquez and Dawes’ Taylor Goldsmith, McCauley is back at it with his own band, Deer Tick, less than a year later. Their fourth studio album in just five years, “Divine […]
The lean-and-mean indie rock on the first EP from L.A. trio Chop Love Carry Fire is deceptively straightforward – stabs and flicks of guitar, sturdy rhythms, biting vocals tinged with just enough angst, all courtesy of three guys who know what they’re doing and have the resumés to prove it. Singer-bassist Jeremy Toback (pictured) co-founded […]
Mad Planet’s first album, 2010’s “All Elephants,” was more about the beats and textures than the shreddy guitars of principals’ previous bands, Bang Sugar Bang in singer-bassist Cooper Gillespie’s case and the Nervous Return in drummer Greg Gordon’s. But the beguiling trip-hop of that first record is almost nowhere to be found in “Pieces of […]
The Black’s gritty garage-Americana is like a slightly rusted saw that still works, cutting deep into whatever needs cleaved – in this case starry-eyed romance and not a little bit of rock ’n’ roll history. The Austin quartet, featuring Matt Simon (ex-Voxtrot) and Dave Longoria (ex-Trail of Dead) along with Bryan Mammel and Amy Hawthorne, […]
So Many Wizards has always offered a sound that has been difficult to pin down in terms of genre, and even after expanding his project to a three-piece band including Erik Felix and Warren Woodward, Nima Kazerouni’s playful yet untamed melodies have only been able to fall under the “bedroom pop” umbrella. However, this is […]
Quite a tease, that Cut Chemist. The former Ozomatli/Jurassic 5 dude is busy working on an as-yet-untitled album due next year, but to stir the pot for his current Tunnel Vision Tour, he’s released a new collaboration with Blackbird titled “Outro (Revisited).” His album in the works will get previewed on his five-city club swing, […]
