The most heartbreaking thing about Sara Lov’s vocals is … well, that we haven’t heard it since her 2011 album of cover songs, “I Already Love You.” Lov, once half of the dreamy duo Devics with pianist Dustin O’Halloran, has long held listeners rapt with her voice, a precise, emotive instrument that has sent scribes […]
With its remote locale and lush greenery, the video for Cayucas’ ebullient single “Moony Eyed Walrus” recalls the L.A. band’s original name, Oregon Bike Trails. Director Nolan Wilson Goff actually filmed the video in Big Sur’s Limekiln State Park, north of Cayucos, the band’s namesake town. It finds twins Zach and Ben Yudin in search […]
Post-millenial malaise, working-class poverty, creative frustrations — all those grievances are aired in “$600,” the first song to emerge from the new band Fakers, comprised of well-known agitators on L.A.’s indie scene. They are Travis Shettel of Piebald, Cameron Dmytryk of Vanaprasta/Sun Drug, Benjamin Heywood of Summer Darling and brothers Joey and Andy Siara of […]
Chris Lynch and Adam Rasmussen say the third Gardens & Villa album, “Music for Dogs” (out Aug. 21 via Secretly Canadian), marks a return to their formative DIY roots, a rejection of commercial pressures to conform, and whatever new-age sentiment running through the duo’s first two albums has been replaced by what they call “Zen […]
The Weepies’ new album “Sirens” sees the husband-and-wife duo of Deb Talan and Steve Tannen returning with their first release since 2010 — and their first since Talan’s bout with breast cancer, which was pronounced as in remission one year ago this week. Like their first four records, “Sirens” is candlelight-intimate folk-pop, as tender and […]
Gypsy folk band Herbert Bail Orchestra has a go-big-or-go-home attitude. From theatrical live shows, coordinated old-time outfits, and a speakeasy-inspired sound, nothing they do is understated. The band’s new single “You Are Beautiful” has it all. Its train-shuffling rhythm blooms and sprawls into an orchestral landscape pulled to crescendo with horns, accordion, keys, strings, and […]
The new single from Scavenger Hunt is one of those bright earworms that makes you nostalgic for the summers of your youth. Unless, of course, you’re still very youthful, in which case we suggest you revisit “Wildfire” in eight to 10 years. It’s the work of singer-songwriter Jill Lamoureux and producer Dan Mufson, who first […]
Orange County sextet Roah Summit debuted last fall with an EP of lush electronic folk, the kind of music seemingly made for major plot points in epic films. Their new single “Take Care” continues in the same deeply emotional vein — and they have a video that suits it. Directed by young filmmaker Kevin Clark, […]
L.A. classic rockers the Janks are spreading their wings — and spreading out their releases. The quartet, comprised of brothers Zachary and Dylan Zmed, Nate Light and Leon LeDoux, have been issuing a new single on the last Friday of every month this year. The wave of new songs follows up last November’s “Living in […]
Choral music can make a person feel wretched. There’s just no way humanity can compete with the wholesome, heavenly, virtuous experience of 25 beautiful harmonizing voices, especially when the singers smile shyly the way the girls do in the Silver Lake Chorus “Hold Up For” music video. Surely it was this precious gooey sensation that […]
