Not much to say about these – they’re the songs you love, only different: In lieu of flowers? Steve Cooper and his electro-funk fun bunch Spirit Animal will be giving away and 10-track album of covers and remixes on Valentine’s Day. The digital collection is titled “Brazen Brand” and contains bliptastic reworkings of tunes from […]
No matter what name we end up knowing them by – Dios, Dios (Malos) or, as their legally safe play now has them billed next week, Wearedios – the underdogs from Hawthorne embody the myth of being in a rock band. They’ve made critically praised music and played Coachella; they’ve gone largely AWOL and faced […]
Spring Summer is the nom de tune of L.A. songstress Jennifer Furches, whose lovingly orchestrated pop hits the same sweet spot where the likes of Natalie Merchant and the Sundays dwell. Furches is working in the right circles – the debut album features contributions from Patrick Park, Dustin O’Halloran and Robert Schwartzman, among others, and […]
The title track to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s forthcoming album “Beat the Devil’s Tattoo” is a psychedelic stomp that saunters, all shakers and handclaps, into mystical territory and never quite drops the fuzzbomb you half-expect. The trio, now with Leah Shapiro drumming behind Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been, will release the new album (which […]
Singer-songwriter Jim Hanft’s amiable folk music earned him a deal last year with Swedish imprint Veranda Records – and a trip to Stockholm in August to record with producer Lasse Marten, who has worked with Peter, Bjorn & John, Lykke Li, Kelly Clarkson and Pink, among others. An interesting fit, you say? Maybe. The first […]
L.A. popgazers Sky Parade have found psych-rock’s sweet spot on their new single, “I Should Be Coming Up (But I Keep Coming Down),” a three-minute fantasy-vs.-reality lament that pits an urgent rhythmic churn against giddy washes of synths. The song, produced by Courtney Taylor-Taylor of the Dandy Warhols and featuring the Dandys’ Zia McCabe on […]
Jaguar Love is back – leaner, meaner and every bit as disquieting. The post-Blood Brothers duo of singer-keyboardist Johnny Whitney and singer-guitarist Cody Votolato, now without drummer Jay Clark (machines take over), will release their sophomore album “Hologram Jams” on March 2 via Fat Possum. The follow-up to 2008’s “Take Me to the Sea” features […]
Buzz Bands doesn’t usually do cute, but since we shared the title track of Lucy Schwartz’s EP “Help Me! Help Me!” a couple of weeks ago it seems appropriate to share the L.A. songstress’s cute video. It’s fun, and maybe you can hip your daughter or kid sister to it. Besides, with a voice (and […]
Pop songstress Beth Thornley is all over the map – and not distractingly so – on her third album, “Wash U Clean,” due March 1. Euphoric power-pop, giddy waltzes, piano-driven confessionals, scratchy folk – all support the L.A.-based artist’s penchant for nifty couplets and spritely melodies (fans of Aimee Mann and Lisa Loeb, note). There […]
The first tracks from O.C.-based newbies the Lost Chorus taste like comfort food for rockists – spank-the-kit rhythms beneath a churning, electro-shoegaze sheen that is part ’80s black leather and part ’00s crooked haircut. How members of the Lost Chorus found each other, though, is interesting: O.C. veterans Ryan Dennee and Dirk Lemmenes began writing […]
