Bikos sounds like the most fun you can have without getting sponsored at happy hour, or without selling your soul to the synth devil. The Los Angeles art-punks new album “Make Your Sound Sound” binges on the pummeling rhythms and ecstatic licks of the B-52’s, Talking Heads and other bands who made the clamorous glamorous. […]
Happy Wednesday … ‣ M83 and Anthony Gonzalez soar into the Music Box behind their new album “Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming.” Active Child opens the sold-out show. ‣ The Bangles visit the House of Blues behind “Sweetheart of the Sun,” their first album in eight years. ‣ Army Navy brings the bright guitar pop on […]
L.A.’s Carl Jordan, who releases music under the moniker The Western States Motel, offers another indie pop gem of a single that intertwines a bit of twang, a magnitude of synthesizers and simple but poignant melodies. However, like the rest tracks off of his new album “Freeway Freeway Riverbed,” the charming intricacies of “All the […]
If the world is going to hell, David Shane Smith is working on a very fine soundtrack. The L.A. songwriter, who’s released four records in the past two years, deals in shape-shifting instrumentation – guitar tones, synth lines and electronic beats are mere silly putty in his hands – and his fragile voice narrates all […]
Chicago quartet JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound make rambunctious old-school soul that, like revivalists such as Fitz & the Tantrums and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, is as heavy on the pop hooks and punky edges as it on the grooves. The four-piece has been heating up in its hometown, and even performed […]
Tops on a terrific Tuesday: ‣ It’s that time of the month – Buzz Bands LA’s SecondTuesday songwriter night at Lot 1 Cafe features acoustic performances by Nico Stai and Megan Jacobs, along with Michael Feerick (Amusement Parks on Fire) and Brian Cleary (Strange Parade, the Movies). ‣ Long-running indie-pop duo Mates Of State hit […]
Sometimes I feel like this: It’s your world, kids – I’m just watching your silly painted faces in it. So it was when Blondfire’s Aurelien Levitan-directed video for “Where the Kids Are” oozed its way onto my browser. It’s R-rated (for excessive violence and candy). And it features and young lad who forgot his meds […]
Judging from the sleek sophistication, island undertones and precise arrangements on the debut EP from Montë Mar, it’s immediately apparent the Los Angeles quintet didn’t just fall out of their bedrooms with a few chord progressions and lovelorn lyrics. Three members met while playing in and around the USC jazz community – in fact, Brian […]
With artists such as Guineafowl, Gotye and the Bleeding Knees Club recently coming through town, it’s been somewhat of an Australian invasion for L.A., but we don’t mind when rock bands like the Jezabels swing by again. Even after we caught the quartet at SXSW, songs such as “Mace Spray” and “Endless Summer” still have […]
Much ado and much to do on the first Monday day of Shovember: ‣ L.A. quintet Vanaprasta, its debut album “Healthy Geometry” just out last week, kicks off its residency at the Satellite, with Rocco DeLuca, Future Ghost, Newchild and Beatnik Jr. supporting. ‣ Great lineup for the opening night of the Chain Gang of […]
