The first EP from Riverside-based Summer Twins is sibling revelry indeed. Sisters Chelsea and Justine Brown make scratchy/sparkly cherub pop that’s sweet and guileless, and if the vocals on “The Good Things” (released in August) are still a work in progress, well, we could name-check a lot indie songstresses who started this way. Bassist Danny […]
[Happy Monday. For all you Daft Punk fans, Jason Bentley will be debuting tracks from the “Tron: Legacy” soundtrack at 10 this morning on your friendly neighborhood public radio station …] Top 2 audio/visual spectacles this evening: ‣ Roger Waters performs “The Wall” live at Staples Center. ‣ Sonic experimentalists the Books, joined by Temporary […]
Quinn Marston is an enigmatic 20-year-old singer-songwriter from New York City. She has a voice that ranges from shy slur to sexy shout, recalling both Karen O. and ’50s troubadour Connie Converse, as well as “Guyville”-era Liz Phair. Her lyrics are witty and wise beyond their years, set to grungy melodies that encapsulate a youthful […]
The latest video concoction from OK Go is a change-of-pace from their live-action clips, but then again so is the song, the acoustic “Last Leaf.” Directed by the band Serious Business Design founders Nadeem Mazen and Ali Mohammad, the video was shot with a Samsung NX100 camera (the behind-the-scenes is pretty cool) and animated by […]
My touts for the weekend (UPDATED): ‣ We all know about Dawes. (Don’t we?) “North Hills” came out way back in 2009, and the L.A. folkies recently holed up to record some new music, some of which you might hear tonight at the El Rey Theatre. It’s one of those arrive-early shows – the Moondoggies […]
Active Child – the nom de tune of everybody’s favorite harp-wielding former choir boy, Pat Grossi – has one of the most anticipated early-2010 album releases on the horizon; his debut full-length will be out in February on Vagrant. Revisiting his “Curtis Lane” EP from this year only makes me more eager to hear it. […]
Top 3 pre-Thanksgiving shows: ‣ Psych-rock feast at the El Rey Theatre, with Black Mountain and the Black Angels. ‣ Talib Kwel’s “Gutter Rainbows” album-release party at the Roxy is free with a donation of a blanket, scarf, gloves or socks. (Subject to capacity, of course.) ‣ And for something a little more chill: A […]
Tonight’s top dueling parties: ‣ Franki Chan’s “Check Yo Ponytail” is back, bringing Aussie electro-rockers Midnight Juggernauts, New Zealand’s the Naked and Famous (who, reports have it, were great Monday night at Bardot) and Toronto’s Diamond Rings to the Echoplex. Of course, Ponytail is going head-to-head with Chan’s old partner, Steve Aoki – it’s the […]
It’s not hard to imagine that East L.A. kids Funeral Party played their first show under circumstances like this. Find a house, plug in, play. The quintet’s debut album “Golden Age of Knowhere” comes out in January, and it’s been serving most of Buzz Bands’ dance-punk needs ever since the promo landed in our laps. […]
Hipsters who like their rock-Americana stripped-down, deconstructed or freaked-out should move along quietly. Truth & Salvage Co. get folky the classic-rock way, with sturdy, clean guitar lines, crafted arrangements and stadium-sized four-part harmonies. Not unlike their sonic brethren the Black Crowes (Chris Robinson produced their debut album, released in May), the L.A.-based sextet [previewed last […]
