You won’t find the slightest trace of indie tricks – no fuzzy reverb, glitchy beats or laptop wizardry – on “I Want Us to Be Remembered,” the first EP from Los Angeles quartet A House for Lions. “That’s not who we are,” singer-songwriter Daniel Norman says. “It would come off as false.” Instead, Norman’s partnership […]
L.A. singer-songwriter Nik Freitas has probably had very few moments to himself since he released his fourth album, “Sun Down,” in 2008 for Conor Oberst’s Team Love imprint. He’s toured as part of Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band, and most recently he’s joined the touring juggernaut of the Danger Mouse/James Mercer project Broken Bells. “Recorded on […]
The first EP from Riverside-based Summer Twins is sibling revelry indeed. Sisters Chelsea and Justine Brown make scratchy/sparkly cherub pop that’s sweet and guileless, and if the vocals on “The Good Things” (released in August) are still a work in progress, well, we could name-check a lot indie songstresses who started this way. Bassist Danny […]
Quinn Marston is an enigmatic 20-year-old singer-songwriter from New York City. She has a voice that ranges from shy slur to sexy shout, recalling both Karen O. and ’50s troubadour Connie Converse, as well as “Guyville”-era Liz Phair. Her lyrics are witty and wise beyond their years, set to grungy melodies that encapsulate a youthful […]
Standing Shadows want to be a big rock band. It’s apparent from every outsized melody and synth-drenched soundscape on the L.A. quartet’s debut album “Five Years of Darkness,” released earlier this year, if not from their live show, which is heavy on smoke, strobes and in-your-face volume. The brainchild of David Miltenberger and Dan Silver, […]
My touts for the weekend (UPDATED): ‣ We all know about Dawes. (Don’t we?) “North Hills” came out way back in 2009, and the L.A. folkies recently holed up to record some new music, some of which you might hear tonight at the El Rey Theatre. It’s one of those arrive-early shows – the Moondoggies […]
Richie James Follin is a hard guy to follow. He rocketed out of Anaheim about seven years ago fronting the Willowz, who’ve made four pretty good albums and probably would be a booming concern had not the last two come out on Dim Mak Records. He made a slightly unwieldy but still worthy solo album […]
And you thought this year’s Darker My Love album was a delirious trip in the Wayback Machine. This second helping of White Fence – the solo project of DML’s Tim Presley – is a beautifully woozy excursion into the lo-fi cobwebs of the ’60s. White Fence’s debut came out earlier this year on San Francisco’s […]
Top 3 pre-Thanksgiving shows: ‣ Psych-rock feast at the El Rey Theatre, with Black Mountain and the Black Angels. ‣ Talib Kwel’s “Gutter Rainbows” album-release party at the Roxy is free with a donation of a blanket, scarf, gloves or socks. (Subject to capacity, of course.) ‣ And for something a little more chill: A […]
The first EP from Kitten – the L.A. quartet fronted by teenage wunderkind Chloe Chaidez, still a tick short of her 16th birthday – is exactly what the foursome’s memorable live shows promised: five songs of breathy, dance-friendly, hormonally charged rock that makes you wonder if adolescence is obsolete. Chaidez, backed by a tight band […]
