It’s hard to tell from Decorations’ first single whether singer-songwriter Devon Geyer is more girl-crazy or synth-obsessed. “Girls” comes at you like a Technicolor bounce house – pubescent Devo tooting and cursing along to scratchy guitar. Geyer, the son of prolific songwriter Stephen Geyer (who penned myriad television themes as well as songs for the […]
When Dexy Valentine unveiled her side project Bonfire Beach in late 2013, it made for a great early Christmas present. Setting aside the dream-pop she makes in Magic Wands, Bonfire Beach dives headlong into gritty shoegazing, recalling the deliciously foreboding rock of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the Duke Spirit and the Raveonettes. We share Valentine’s […]
Everything about “If and Or” – the debut full-length from L.A. duo the Boom Circuits – seems ready for a major motion picture. In fact, director Ben Redmond’s slick video for the hyper-romantic single “The Cost” almost qualifies itself. The album is the work of Vega Schenk and Andy Ellis, who, after releasing EPs in […]
In an interview last month with Noisey, Failure’s Ken Andrews talked about the trio’s reunion and acknowledged how surprised he was that February’s comeback show at the El Rey Theatre sold out in two minutes. And he sprung a surprise himself – the news that the band was working on a new album. Today comes […]
As long as there is California, songwriters will be penning paeans to the West Coast dream. And so it goes with the Canyon Rays, named as an homage to Laurel Canyon and sounding every bit as sunny as a beach. The band is the work of songwriter Luke Hamel, who debuted last December with a […]
“We’re young hearts / Look at us go / All we really need is a stereo,” sings lead vocalist Stephen Docker of Australian synth-pop band Strange Talk. Whether or not those lyrics are 100% believable, the youthful mentality there is admirable. Docker, Girard Sidhu, Travis Constable and Gillian Gregory have quickly used that effervescent energy […]
Wartime Recitals call themselves an indie-pop band, and it’s true if you abide the olden definition of that classification. Loose, heartfelt and exuberant, the L.A. sextet’s music is more Los Campesinos! than any of the synth-drenched, vocoded indie-pop of today. Their new single “Bad Dances,” with its call-and-response vocals and surging chorus, is a day-brightener […]
Tired of fluffy pop and craving something that will shake the cobwebs out of your ears? Enter Barrows. The L.A. instrumental post-rock quartet returns with sophomore effort appropriately titled “Red Giant,” a concept album the life and death of a star. Stars are not given a twinkling and romantic context here; instead Barrows lays down […]
It’s been a long and winding road for Nightmare and the Cat. (We figure it’s OK to invoke that line since they have a song called “Blackbird Smile.”) It’s been three years since the L.A.-based quintet debuted with an indie release that saw the brothers Stewart – singer Django and guitarist Sam, scions of Dave […]
News of Erik Hassle first landed in the the U.S. when his hit single “Hurtful” found its way across the pond from Sweden. The 2009 hit from his debut “Hassle” was even re-released on his sophomore album “Pieces,” but it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the soul-pop singer. It may be because he’s […]
