Robert Fleming’s bright pop project Victory sank its hooks into us last fall with “Kickers” [download it, really], and now the young songwriter/oenophile is prepping a new album of material. Lest we need a picker-upper on a sunny southern California day, however, he has released this video for “Kickers,” directed by Steven Tralongo. Be happier.
Thursday’s thicket of things: ‣ It’s been too long since we’ve heard from Crash Kings. The L.A. trio of Tony and Mike Beliveau and Jason Morris, who had a hit with “Mountain Man” off their 2009 album, have been working on a follow-up and will play a bunch of new material tonight at the Troubadour, […]
If NO‘s “Stay With Me ” hasn’t pulled on a heartstring or two before, prepare yourself for the single’s touching Ryan Reichenfeld-directed music video. Opening lines “I’m only human” initially takes on an ironic tone once you realize who the stars are, but it doesn’t take long before the sterile environment transforms into a place […]
Letting Up Despite Great Fault‘s frontman and main songwriter Mike Lee may have recently moved to Austin, Texas, but no matter their current location, the band’s shoegaze-infused dream-pop still echos the summery breeze of L.A. with songs like “Stand Still.” Although the previously unreleased b-side track from their “Paper Crush” EP will not be appearing […]
Sharon Van Etten has tapped into something universal on her latest album “Tramps,” and director Sam Zimman employs bleached-out, kaleidoscopic effects to transport the plaintively delivered emotions into something visual and visceral. You can get lost in this one. ||| Live: Sharon Van Etten plays March 20 at the Avalon along with the War on […]
The L.A. indie-folk ensemble Monsters Calling Home started with a song by the name, penned by Alex Hwang about a conversation between an American son and his immigrant father. As folk music has the power to do, it transcended cultures and generations – at least Hwang’s pals thought so. With three friends he met at […]
Fine fare for your Wednesday: ‣ Portland sextet Blitzen Trapper visits the Troubadour behind their 2011 album “American Goldwing” – that’s director Brian Adrian Koch’s video for “Taking It Easy Too Long,” above. Opening are the Parson Red Heads, the former L.A. residents whose recent turn on “Portlandia” had everybody buzzing. ‣ Two influential rockers […]
In the the trickle songs of she’s released so far, Meg Myers has revealed herself as a rocker grrl (“Poison”), strong-willed confrontationalist (“Monster”) and dreamy romantic (“After You”). But it’s her day job as a waitress in a restaurant with hipster clientele that informs the gut-busting track “Tennessee,” featuring her producer and collaborator Doctor Rosen […]
Like her moniker suggests, Ramona Gonzalez has never been quite in the dark. Since the release of 2009’s “Good Evening,” her music as Nite Jewel has always delicately sparkled with a maturity as much as it mysteriously teased with a shrouded vulnerability. The string of EPs that followed touched on chillwave, but Nite Jewel’s recent […]
Their name is not a typo – you pronounce Blacks& “black sand” – but the music from the new four-headed collaboration seems better suited for white sand, as in tropical beaches. Featuring bassist Donald Eley and guitarist Craig “Tiger” Smith (both of whom played with lamentably overlooked indie rockers the Sea of Cortez) along with […]