London-based Fanfarlo is gearing up for the release of their third studio album. Although the record is still untitled, the quartet has released teaser single “Myth Of Myself (A Ruse to Exploit Our Weaknesses),” a track that is surprisingly sprawling as Simon Balthazar’s particular baritone weaves in and out of titillating percussion and clarinet riffs. […]
Power-pop maestros Army Navy have a lot of songs about crushes, all with their characteristic jangling, noisy guitars and Justin Kennedy’s boyish, hopeful croon. The title track of the trio’s new EP was inspired by a crash, though, not a crush. “Crushed Like the Car” uses as a metaphor the reality check of an automobile […]
Modest Mouse, the Faint and Twin Shadow will be the big names at the free shows next week at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach. The event’s musical offerings are scaled back compared to last year, when the outdoor shows featured TV on the Radio, Grouplove and Best Coast over three days. This […]
Jake Bellows possesses the evocative voice of a man who’s seen a lot, or at least felt a lot, and his early music as part of the Omaha band Neva Dinova juxtaposed that vocal intimacy with expansive guitar textures. Relocated to Los Angeles from the Midwest in 2010, Bellows has slowly been fleshing out the […]
What’s in a name? Plenty, it turns out. In March, Australian singer-guitarist Andrew Stockdale announced that he was dispensing with the name Wolfmother – the band he had fronted during a checkered, decade-long period that included the 2007 Grammy Award for best hard rock performance. A new album, an hour-long, 17-track stoner behemoth, had been […]
A truly happy Monday: ‣ The Neighbourhood wind up a big tour behind their debut “I Love You” with a sold-out show at the Fonda Theatre, supported by JMSN. ‣ Wolfmother returns for a sold-out show at the Troubadour. ‣ This month’s residencies continue in a big way – Miner at the Bootleg Bar (with […]
Incoming: The Neighbourhood, Wolfmother, Dessa, the Greyboy Allstars, the Cat Empire, Alabama Shakes, Matchbox Twenty, Sergio Mendes, Mayer Hawthorne, Belle & Sebastian, Fol Chen, White Arrows, Meshell Ndegeocello, Wiz Khalifa, Red Baraat, Passenger, the Dan Band, Pink Martini, Chinatown Summer Nights, Dillinger Escape Plan, Matthew Sweet, Rogue Wave, Heh Marseilles, Camper Van Beethoven, Shooter Jennings […]
Hey, it’s been two years. The L.A. Buzz Bands Show marks its second anniversary on KCSN this week, and besides my normal armload of new music, the show will be air during a new time slot. Join me at 9 p.m. at 88.5 FM (streaming at KCSN.org) for fresh music from PAPA, the Happy Hollows, […]
Your Sunday fun: ‣Â Acoustic rockers Rodrigo y Gabriela head up a big installment of the KCRW World Festival at the Hollywood Bowl that includes DeVotchKa and L.A.’s Lord Huron. ‣Â The Lot Party L.A. – going off at 1637 N. Wilcox in Hollywood – has Dead Sara, Semi Precious Weapons and Blondfire heading up a one-day […]
There were “Secrets and Truth” and a whole lot more on Friday night at the Skirball Cultural Center in one of the most ambitious intersections of music, art and performance art we have witnessed at a museum. Two rising bands on the L.A. indie-rock scene, Hunter Hunted and Harriet, provided the tunes, exhilarating at times, […]