[Happy Buddy Holly Day … He would have been 75 today, and he will get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this morning and a star-studded tribute concert tonight at the Music Box, which will be taped for a PBS special to air in December.] Fare for your muggy midweek: ‣ Viva Brother, […]
Kissing in a F*cked Up video? Shows of affection and hardcore punk metal may seem a weird duality, but kudos to the Toronto band for writing an album that also happens to be a four-act rock opera, then finding a way to cleverly translate the story with a punk mentality – and without being grandiose. […]
Post-holiday weekend fun: ‣ Only a year after releasing the double-disc retrospective “Your Hear Me,” veteran power-pop maestro Tommy Keene returned last month with a new album of crisp guitar rock, “Behind the Parade.” Tonight, Keene visits the Silverlake Lounge, with Exploding Flowers and Risers opening. That’s Keene’s video for “Deep Six Saturday,” above. ‣ […]
Rock on, gamers. While we at Buzz Bands LA HQ won’t pretend to be conversant in Borderlands, we do like our Crystal Method, especially when Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland team up with U.K. indie-funk band the Heavy. “Play for Real,” featuring singer Kelvin Swaby and guitarist Dan Taylor from the Heavy (and some other […]
Christopher J. Ewing’s new video for Letting Up Despite Great Faults’ “Teenage Tide,” with its well-scrubbed cast of ostensible teenagers, represents a pretty deft update of John Hughes’ milieu. Which makes it perfect for the Los Angeles indie-poppers’ swoon-worthy single off the band’s “Paper Crush” EP (Old Flame Records). When the video premiered Wednesday on […]
Amy LaVere may look familiar if you’ve noticed her acting in films such as “Walk the Line” and “Hustle and Flow.” However, her most charming method of telling a story is through her Americana-pop. The singer-songwriter from Memphis, Tenn., follows up her album “Anchors & Anvil” (produced by the late Jim Dickinson) with “Stranger Me,” […]
Australian pro surfer-turned-musician Ry Cuming had some great instincts when it came to trying his hand at music. Making a splash in a different industry with his raspy falsetto and soul-anchored choruses, Cuming’s songwriting outstrips those trite, beachy sounds most are used to hearing from other fellow pro surfers. His piano- and guitar-based tunes go […]
“Bull in the Wild,” the three-minute banger off Eastern Conference Champions’ scintillating new album “Speak-Ahh,” sprints along on an ascending bass line while Josh Ostrander spits out lyrics like a drunken beat poet. It’s exhilarating, moreso if you catch some of the imagery in Ostrander’s seemingly stream-of-consciousness wordplay. “I’m in the corner / watching the […]
Fool’s Gold’s sophomore album “Leave No Trace” arrived earlier this month like an umbrella drink, mixing sweet and bright African beats with the intoxicating yearning of ’80s mopes like the Smiths and the Cure. Singer Luke Top’s full-throated entreaties, sung entirely in English this time (he did some songs in Hebrew on the debut), exude […]
A mostly local Tuesday: ‣ Army Navy, with their first national tour behind their new album “The Last Place” kicking off in October, plays the Satellite on a local bill that also includes JJAMZ and the Damn Sons. [Stream Army Navy’s album and get a download of “Ode to Janice Melt” at their website.] ‣ […]