[It’s “Wear Black for Johnny” day in honor of Johnny Cash’s 78th birthday. Hell, I might just keep the black on wall weekend …] Tonight: Swedish classic rockers the Soundtrack of Our Lives [pictured], who just released a digital EP that quickly followed last year’s double-disc album, hit town to play the El Rey Theater, […]
Brothers at Sea could hardly have titled their debut EP more appropriately – “This Is a Redemption Melody” offers five songs of buoyant melodies, surging guitars and amped-up earnestness that recalls Jimmy Eat World’s “Gravity.” The Orange County quintet, all in their late teens, are making music around their collegiate studies at USC, Biola and […]
[Birthday greetings today go out to Corinne Bailey Rae … Here’s your menu for tonight’s musical feast, with a couple of mp3s at the end as an appetizer:] Visqueen’s album “Message to Garcia” is getting a lot of attention for what it isn’t – tricked up or gimmicky. The Seattle quartet [pictured] fronted by guitarist […]
The Icarus Line hasn’t made much noise since 2007’s “Black Lives on the Golden Coast” blared into my headphones and, I thought at the time, positioned them as hard-rock contenders. Now Joey Cardamone and his quintet are back, ever playing the bad boys, with a new single on iTunes, “We Sick” b/w “Holy Man.” The […]
The Delta Mirror, the latest incarnation of the decade-long music collaboration between Craig Gordon and David Bolt, makes electro-shoegaze with the disposition of a gathering storm. The languid, foreboding tracks on the band’s concept album, “Machines That Listen” (out March 16 on Lefse Records), are snapshots of scenes from a hospital; each song takes place […]
[Thanks to everyone who helped make Tuesday night’s Buzz Bands LA show at the Echo a smash hit. It felt like a whole weekend crammed into a couple of hours. Now, on with our week:] The Rescues, the L.A. quartet whose undeniable songs have been all over some of your favorite TV shows recently, headline […]
[Buzz Bands LA today welcomes a new contributor, freelance writer Richard Thomas, whose work you can find at Mining the Landfill. Rich’s occasional column here, Buzzbeats, will focus mainly on electro and dance music. Here, he catches up with pop sensation Dan Black – enjoy:] By Richard Thomas When Kanye West posts a link to […]
[My first e-mail this morning came from a friend back home: “Twenty-five years ago today, Toto won a Grammy. Those were the days.” Happy Tuesday, there’s a big night ahead:] If you’re a regular here, you probably already know about this: Glacier Hiking headlines our Buzz Bands LA event at the Echo, which also features […]
The ink is hardly dry on the Von Bondies’ release for Majordomo Records last year, “Love, Hate and Then There’s You,” and now frontman Jason Stollsteimer is on his way to town with a new band, the Hounds Below. The quartet, which includes guitarist Ben Collins, bassist Molly Jean Schoen and and drummer Ben Luckett, […]
The first recordings from L.A.’s Gamble House could wear their Grizzly Bear comparisons like a stain, but the architect of the music, Ben Becker, prefers to think of them as a beauty mark. “I can’t say I dislike it, because I have a huge admiration for what Grizzly Bear does,” Becker says. “But …” Gamble […]
