Search Results for: burger records
King Tuff Unloads His Clip With A Farewell Show At The Lodge Room
Taylor Wong
May 22, 2025
May 15th was one of those rare nights at The Lodge Room where the room felt sacred. Not because we were mourning someone who passed, but because we were saying goodbye to a living legend. After more than a decade of calling L.A. home, King Tuff—aka Kyle Thomas—was leaving the city to head back to his native Vermont. No funeral, no drama, just a farewell show packed with friends, fans, and deep cuts. Still, it carried that weird weight. A little celebratory, a little emotional. The kind of night where people linger a little longer in their hugs and the encore feels more like a thank-you note than a victory lap. For those who haven’t followed his journey, King Tuff came up in Brattleboro, Vermont, playing in freak-folk outfits like Feathers before co-founding the stoner metal band Witch with J Mascis. From there, he broke out as a solo act under the King Tuff moniker, releasing Was Dead in 2008—an album that would later go on to cult status when it was reissued by Burger Records and Sub Pop in 2013. The self-titled King Tuff LP in 2012 pushed him further into the spotlight with tracks like “Bad Thing” and
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The Ultimate Residency: Ty Segall & Freedom Band at Teragram
Dillon Vaughn
August 11, 2019
The second night of Ty Segall‘s MASSIVE 10 week residency at The Teragram Ballroom was a perfect juxtaposition of the now classic, simple songwriting and garage riffs of 2010 paired with the refined and experimental material of a maturing artist. related content: Ty Segall & The Freedom Band Blows Minds At Secret Show At The Griffin Backed by an ensemble of familiar LA musicians performing as The Freedom Band, Ty and Co. set the evening in motion with a blazing rendition of the entirety of the recently released album First Taste. The Freedom Band (consisting of Mikal Cronin, Charles Moothart, Emmet Kelley, and Shannon Lay [perfectly adding six strings to the press-buzz generating “guitarless album”]) cast new light on an already new release by significantly boosting the energy of every single track. A swelling electric rendition of the a capella Ice Plant, now complete with percussion and strings, stands out as a highlight of the evening and a prime example of the power of live performance. Feeding upon the excitement of the audience and playing harder or with more feeling is the cycle that makes it more than just “songs from the album, but live.” It’s the entire purpose of seeing music in person and
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Street Sass: The Flytraps at Harvelle’s
Janky Smooth Central Command
May 23, 2019
Despite the number of years they’ve been around in the L.A. club world, the Flytraps is still a band name that more people in the scene have heard than have actually seen play live. Fortunately for the scene, that’s a situation that is rapidly changing. Seemingly making up for lost time, the last twelve months have seen an onslaught of indie releases by the Flytraps including their latest Burger Records cassette release Bitches in Boots, the debut of which was celebrated at Harvelle’s Long Beach cocktail bar. related content: Crusty Anthems And Salty Sing-Alongs: The Distillers Return To Orange County It seems difficult to fathom now that bassist Kristin Cooper wasn’t always the main singer and front woman of the Flytraps but since the days since guitarist Marz Riesterer left the group (aptly replaced by stylish rhythm guitarist Chloe Z. Young), Kristin has developed a compelling aura of confidence and punk rock sangfroid that seems to draw their fans in. Whether she’s wildly mosh cheer leading the opening punk acts Skullcrack, Pink Mist and new Long Beach band The Tangents or strutting it up on stage with the Flytraps, Kristin Cooper is a one woman punk rock bacchanal. As she towered
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Voluntary Electrocution: Le Shok at Alex’s Bar
Jessica Moncrief
July 9, 2018
Le Shok has sent shock waves along the California coast since playing a secret show at Zebulon, performing at their official reunion at Burger Boogaloo and most recently, with a home town show at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach last Friday. The show was announced in conjunction with the “We Are Electrocution” group art show at 4th Street Vine, as well as a Burger Records repressing of their seminal album. With an all-star support line-up of local favorites such as Terminal A, The Tissues, and Assquatch, it’s no wonder many fans, myself included, were left scrambling on social media event threads trying to get our grubby hands on a ticket after the show sold out in a cool 4 hours. Promises of blow jobs and death threats for tickets littered the event page in the days leading up to the show, proving the loyalty and lengths people were willing to go to relive the punk nostalgia of nearly 2 decades past. For all of you that were fortunate enough to cop a ticket, enjoy relieving the joy and insanity of the night and if you are one of the sad fucks that didn’t make it in (like I almost was), here are some photos of
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The Lemon Twigs At Teragram: A Tale Of Two Brothers
Lawrence Rengert
October 31, 2017
Looking for parking in Los Angeles is something you spend a lot of time doing. I was on my way to see The Lemon Twigs and glad I had left early. As I cruised the streets looking for a spot to put my car, I ended up in my teenage neighborhood. Fitting, as the band I was about to see just graduated from high school. Lucas and Maryland was a pretty rough area back in the day but now was starting to look more like Los Feliz twenty five years ago, with it’s own nightlife strip just three blocks South on Wilshire. The outstanding difference between my teenage years and the ones the Lemon Twigs have led is that my friends and I spent most of our time drinking and talking about what we wanted to do, the Lemon Twigs have simply done it. The Lemon Twigs are that band who should not be where they are at their age. The first time you hear their music you think, ‘Yeah but who’s really writing these songs? Who’s really playing them? There is no way this could be the work of a seventeen and nineteen year old,’ but it is. They
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Video Premiere: Thee MVPs “US Airways” Exclusively at Janky Smooth
Janky Smooth Central Command
October 9, 2017
Thee MVPs have toured coast to coast, stopping off at SXSW to play with Janky garage favorites like Meatbodies, Dead Meadow, and Night Beats. Director Max Horn, whose worked previously with Frank Carter And The Rattlesnakes, was able to capture the kinetic intensity of Thee MVPs being their most vivid and wild selves in this video premiere of the track “US Airways” from the short film Receiver. Check it out… Recorded across the pond in a big room at Brighton Electric studios, Thee MVPs tear the house down with this jammer that they usually bust out to close sets with, sometimes taking the song to a frenzied 12 minute session live. For fans of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard and Thee Oh Sees, Thee MVPs play garage and psych rock from an English lens that may resemble the same transformation of the blues through bands like the Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin. So give this groovy video a peep and make sure to keep your eyes open for Receiver which will be released October 13th on Greenway and as a tape through Burger Records. Cheers!
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Isaac Rother & The Phantoms Are Back With 5 Hits From Hell…
DM Collins
May 23, 2017
Isaac Rother & the Phantoms and their soul-laden stew of R&B horror rock and off-the-charts live show bring a seminal but sometimes forgotten era of rock from the 50s and early 60s back to life. But Isaac and his Phantoms also evoke a time just a few decades past, at the cusp of our Modern Garage Era of Rocken’ at Large (or ”MONGEReL” for short), when bands such as the Mummies, the Trashwomen, the Gories, the Bomboras, and the Makers (just to name a few) rooted through not only the record collections of their rock forefathers, but also the backs of their closets, churning out live shows as loaded with sequins and monster masks as they were with broken drumsticks and blown out Fender amps. Unlike many of their successors, these bands also weren’t afraid of adding a little roll to their rock, or exploring those sections of rock’s lemon that still needed lemonade squeezed from them, be it surf music, garage, bubblegum, or glam. Like a breath of fresh tomb air, Mr. Rother and his army of the undead have “dug up” this full-immersion concept anew for the current generation of garage, soul, and just plain rock
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The Orwells And L.A.’s Rocker Red Carpet At Regent Tour Stop
Paige Vreede
April 10, 2017
Mario Cuomo, frontman for The Orwells does not give a fuck what song you want to hear – he just wants to play good music and good music is exactly what him and his compatriots delivered last Thursday at The Regent alongside No Parents and The Walters. Despite all three bands delivering a slightly different sound, the one thing they all shared in common was their rousing ability to cut loose and cavort on the rising star friendly stage at The Regent. One thing we love is the red carpet that is rolled out for every rock and roller by this global community in independent music- which is particularly defined for and fighting the stigma of phoniness in Los Angeles with every hospitable act and selfless key bump. Arriving to the venue at 9:30pm, I was greeted by angsty teens pushing and shoving while howling the words “You got snaked” under the elegant arches of The Regent. With most of their songs coming in as a two minute blow to the face, I could have easily missed No Parents entire set seeing as they opened the show at the early hour of 9pm- at least I didn’t miss it all. related
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Take This:Two VIP Tix to Burger Boogaloo w/ Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks
Janky Smooth Central Command
April 1, 2017
Being the pre-eminent garage rock festival requires that someone transform the lo-fi sound worshipped by it’s lovers into a minimal visual aesthetic, at least by today’s music festival standards. A modern minimalism that doesn’t lose that fact that the ruffles and confetti of a senior prom or the tiki torches and teen taboo of a backyard party were over the top, once upon a time. After 7 years, Burger Boogaloo and it’s home in Mosswood Park have achieved that “just right” aesthetic that hits all the right notes in the lineup and it looks like it will do so again on July 1st and 2nd, 2017 in Oakland, California. What Burger Boogaloo does so well is that it achieves a familiarity and comfort without being too redundant. With John Waters becoming a welcome permanent fixture as master of ceremonies, two consecutive years of The Mummies were just what we needed. Omitting them from this year’s lineup was just as necessary as booking them twice and adding the likes of Iggy Pop, Buzzcocks and X achieved an exponentially wider net of legacy being cast without losing that trashiness that a couple bigger name acts could bring when patrons wearing indian head dresses
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Take This: Two Tickets To See The Orwells at The Observatory
Janky Smooth Central Command
March 20, 2017
The Orwells are coming to the Observatory in Orange County this Friday, March 24th. The Orwells are one of the most badass young live bands in rock n roll right now. Every element in authenticity is present in their live set. Air tight band and sloppy, blacked out dispositions that mouth whore around the venue on any given night. When their sophomore album, Disgraceland dropped in 2013, it solidified them the “real deal”- appealing to legions of discerning indie hipsters and vapid mainstream mass appealers alike. Now they are touring in support of their 3rd album, Terrible Human Beings. I’ve seen The Orwells play a handful of shows and two of the best were at The Observatory. Most recently was this time last year at Burger Records week long celebration of their partnership with the venue. The video embedded into this post should tell you everything you need to know about the set they played on the last night of a 7 day marathon celebration at the venue: “Mario Cuomo unleashed upon adoring fans of The Orwells a yeoman’s performance of drunken, sloppy but precise and sexual rock and roll frontmannery. The Orwells were fantastic. I hadn’t seen them since just
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Janky Smooth Top 25 Bands & Artists To Watch in 2017
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 18, 2017
We take a fanboy/girl approach to music journalism in that most of us will gush over the artists we love and speak with a jaded cynicism about everyone else. That isn’t what this list of Top 25 Bands & Artists to Check Out in 2017 is about, though. (see disclaimer below) Luckily, there are more bands and little pockets of diverse music, art collectives and scenes all throughout the city right now than there ever has been. That’s not the weird part. The weird part is that, love ’em or hate them; SO MANY of these bands, DJ’s, sound designers and MC’s are in it for authentic and genuine artistic motives. Once, for all intents and purposes the music industry died, all the head shot, MI, blow dried Ken and Barbies that occupied a significant percentage of the “forever chasing the corporate art dollar” population in Los Angeles re-evaluated their lives, they scattered into television, movies and production and then… … the kids in the garages and practice spaces began their rule. Without the old worldwide distribution network and formulaic spreadsheets in place, the amount of time it takes for good bands to go from touring the west coast to touring
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Redd Kross, OFF! & Melvins Commemorate Teen Babes From Monsanto
Danny Baraz
January 9, 2017
Even though I’ve been averaging 3 or 4 shows a week, every week of every month since November of 2014, I still get jacked up on performances more often than not. I might not always be AS excited before I get to the venue from one night to the next but the Redd Kross anniversary party for Teen Babes From Monsanto along with a Steve “livin the dream” McDonald showcase with all his current active bands, including Melvins AND OFF! was impossible to not get wrapped up in. Unless you’re a kook. related content: OFF! Transform The Echo From Peaceful Indie Venue to House of Raw Aggression The truth is that Janky photographer, Jessica Moncrief hit me up to see if I could write about, so she could shoot, OFF! and Melvins at The Observatory. I didn’t find out until I was half way down to Santa Ana that Redd Kross was ALSO playing. I started to make the McDonald connection but still didn’t understand what was happening down there until I got inside the venue and the Melvins were already halfway through their set. The bummed out feeling at missing a major chunk of the Melvins didn’t last too long when I understood
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The Janky New Year Top 10 SONGS of 2016 Rated by Contributors
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 5, 2017
We don’t care what people say about you, 2016; Janky Smooth loves you. Sure, you skull fucked the country with a culturally divisive presidential election that scrambled our brains, pitted us against each other and made propaganda the norm. Yes, we were able to normalize the images of police gunning down unarmed civilians in the street and forced us to redefine the word “justified”. Granted, almost half of our country believes that global warming is either a hoax or overstated as the polar ice caps and ancient sea shelf melts and breaks off into the ocean at a rate more rapid than anyone could’ve dreamed or climate scientists had calculated. Sure, you took a massive amount of musicians, actors, artists, leaders and athletes that basically everyone on the planet loves the most. But you know what? At least you gave us some of the best independent hip hop, metal, electronic, punk and straight forward rock songs than any of your younger brother and sister centuries have sounded in quite some time. So we forgive you but now, We The People of Janky Smooth have to make some decisions on our favorites from the best songs of 2016. We’re up for
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Janky Smooth Sessions: Cosmonauts Interview By The Lake
Paige Vreede
October 5, 2016
It’s 4pm on a sunny Saturday afternoon and I’m running amuck at Echo Park Lake trying to track down Cosmonauts, Derek Cowart and Alex Ahmadi after all of our phones died at the exact same time. I saw the boys at a gig the night before so I figured if they were anywhere nearly as hung over as I was, I could probably find them lounging in the shadiest part of the park. Past zooming Pokémon goers on skateboards, beyond the tempting smell of corn on the grill, towards a playground full of screaming children, I spotted two dudes in space-age, senior citizen style sunglasses amongst a group of a dozen 20-something year olds enjoying a picnic. We eventually find a quiet spot of our own to sit down and enjoy a couple of beers and homemade brownies, (no, unfortunately they were not the “special” kind) and discuss weird fan experiences, their recent album release of A-OK! and why having accordions for legs is better than having a ten inch belly-button. Their fourth full-length album A-OK! was released in August, via Burger Records, and it is everything the Cosmonauts have always promised their fans. Its shoe-gaze, its psychedelic, its
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Burger Boogaloo 2016: Bringing Rare Vinyl Back to Life For 7 Years
Danny Baraz
July 1, 2016
There are many metaphors I could employ to describe what it was like to attend the annual Burger Boogaloo festival in Oakland for my first time, in the year of our Lord, 2016. It’s like going through your mom and dad’s moth-balled wardrobe from 1968 and realizing that you just hit the mother load of cyclical fashion. It was always there. It was just up to you to open that garage, suspend that disbelief that your parents were actually cool at some point in their lives and try it on to see if it fits. It seems that no matter how far technology advances or what new platforms are developed in Silicon Valley to deliver music and culture to the masses, new generations will always dust off old vinyl and make it new again. To transform themselves into a time that seems simpler than their own and to long for the good old days that they didn’t even exist in. Afterall, it is an American teenagers right of passage to be completely disenchanted with the here and now and it is the aging hipsters prerogative to revisit the haunts of their youth. All of these sentiments converge, year after year,
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NSA Fundraiser and Launch w/ The Garden & Punk Rock Karaoke
Danny Baraz
May 25, 2016
On Wednesday, May 18th, the New Sound Alliance held it’s very first event at The Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles; A Fundraiser for Senator Bernie Sanders. And while raising funds for Sanders to insure a significant showing in the California Primary to make legitimate claims to storm the floor at the DNC Convention in Philly this July was the primary purpose of our party, introducing the New Sound Alliance to the Los Angeles music community was just as important. There is always a fear in art, business and activism when attempting to launch a new project. While there is always a risk of bearing your heart to attract like minded people to join you in a quest for understanding and action, there is little more exhilarating in life when your passion is validated by sparking the passion in others. Young and old fans and key figures in the L.A. music scene turned out in droves to support Senator Sanders and check out some of the best, young talent in L.A., as well as to sing live Karaoke with legends of punk rock like Greg Hetson, Stan Lee, Steve Soto and Darryn Pheiffer aka Punk Rock Karaoke. We only had
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Burger Boogaloo 2016 in Oakland
Danny Baraz
March 29, 2016
The Burger Boogaloo festival is the Burgerama of the North. With Burgerama V still up in the air, the cousin of Burgerama, Burger Boogaloo is signed, sealed and delivered to take place Saturday, June 25th and 26th at Mosswood Park in Oakland. Every year Burger Records take their show on the road to Oakland and every year that burger comes out well done. Film maker John Waters will once again be the Master of Ceremonies this year and Burger has added a meet and greet with American cultural icon, Ms Traci Lords. Vintage indie band, The Mummies have been booked to play the festival for the second year in a row with everyone expecting them to outdo their motorcycle entrance to last year’s performance with another surprise. Along with The Mummies, the lineup also includes Thee Oh Sees, Shannon and the Clams, The Spits, Death Valley Girls, King Khan and The Shrines, The Dwarves and Angry Samoans, to name just a few. Single day or weekend pass tickets are available now. Janky Smooth is giving away 2 tickets to one winner to this years’ Burger Boogaloo. You can enter our contest or: Purchase Tickets Here CONTEST RULES: Follow Janky Smooth on Facebook, Instagram
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L.A. Hustle at SXSW 2016: Bands, Labels, Promoters & Publications
Danny Baraz
March 23, 2016
Artists, agents, publicists and partiers come from far and wide to take part in one of the largest music and networking events in the world. Fans attending SXSW in Austin ,Texas view it as a diverse display of music in which they can recreationally party and enjoy bands they love and bands they discover throughout the week long musical portion of the conference. The aforementioned groups of art producers and opportunists view the conference much differently than the fans or even the way they themselves typically view playing a regular show or festival. With a somewhat intimate knowledge of the bands in Southern California and their proxies, it was fascinating to watch it all unfold in front of me. From Burger Records to Lolipop Records, iHeartcomix to Desert Daze, the Los Angeles and greater Southern California area musicians and business’ were very well represented at SXSW 2016. Janky Smooth was proud to see the members of our scene thriving in such a competitive environment and of course, to make our own stamp on the events surrounding the conference in our very first SXSW experience as a publication. On the band side, there were L.A. bands like one of our low
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Burger Records and the Observatory: 5 Years of Fun in Orange County
Danny Baraz
March 7, 2016
With Burger Records postponing their annual Burgerama festival, Sean and Lee have opted to honor their partnership with the Observatory in Orange County. For 5 years, Burger and The Observatory have conspired to bring the audiophiles of Orange County some of the best lineups in all of Southern California. To commemorate the milestone, Burger Records and their headquarters to showcase the bands on their label, The Observatory, have put together a show for every day this week that features some of the best talent in indie music today. This post will serve as a running update and review of shows that Janky Smooth attends. The headliners and supporting acts on the lineup aren’t just Burger bands but feature acts like Slowdive and Crystal Castles for one of their first live performances without iconic vocalist, Alice Glass. Angry Samoans headline the Wednesday, March 9th show and includes Orange County punk icon, Rikk Agnew along with Golden (shower) Boys of emerging pop punk, No Parents. The anniversary week kicks off tonight with a few bands that we’ve spent a lot of time covering over the past year; Shannon and the Clams, Death Valley Girls and The Gooch Palms and features Guantanamo Baywatch
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Buzz Bait: Bonnie of Death Valley Girls On Music, Magic and Metaphysics
Brent Smith
February 16, 2016
High noon. Under the stark, blue February sky I encounter Bonnie Bloomgarden standing at the entrance of the Red Lion Tavern in Echo Park. The singer/guitarist of the doom rock outfit Death Valley Girls greets me in green sparkly eye makeup with a big smile and gifts in the form of a limited edition 7” and a live singles cassette wrapped in caution tape. I rejoice and accept like it’s the Holy Communion. After slipping into the dark of the ancient Germanic pub, we head to the upstairs bar. Death Valley Girls have popped up on the indie map like a baffling string of UFO sightings, ever since their Street Venom debut. Some may remember Bloomgarden’s exploits in the NY band The Witnesses, or maybe her cameo in King Tuff’s third album Black Moon Spell. Though perhaps nothing was as enthralling as DVG’s performance last October at the Natural History Museum’s mummy exhibit, which served more as a necromantic rock séance to communicate in peace with the Egyptian dead. The new Death Valley Girls LP Glow in the Dark is due June 10th via Burger Records, just in time for Burger Boogaloo. It’s unlike anything we’ve heard from them before. Though the
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Opening Bands Shine as OFF! Plays Alex’s Bar 16 Year Anniversary
Danny Baraz
February 3, 2016
Alex’s Bar in Long Beach knows how to celebrate their milestones.. In their 16th year, Alex’s Bar has managed to survive the early years of the many obstacles put in their path by the city of Long Beach to become the most important music venue in the city. Maybe it’s because of this that the celebrations they put together to mark their anniversaries are so notable. It’s always predicated on making sure it’s twice as fun by making it a two night affair. Last year, it was two nights of Rocket From The Crypt This year, for their 16 year anniversary, they booked Keith Morris’ OFF! to play two consecutive nights. Alex’s Bar: 15 Years of Punk Gratitude w/ Rocket from the Crypt What’s left to say about OFF!? I wrote about OFF! in great detail after their show at The Echo. Keith Morris, Dimitri Coats, Steven McDonald and Mario Rubalcaba deserve every word of praise they get for their achievement of making honest, hardcore punk music in this world of corporate numbers crunching. Please check out my piece on OFF! playing The Echo last year. OFF! Transform The Echo From Peaceful Indie Venue To House of Raw Aggression No.
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Janky Smooth’s Top 20 Artists to Watch in 2016
Danny Baraz
January 15, 2016
In identifying Janky Smooth’s Artists to Watch in 2016, there were a number of factors to take into consideration. There are different levels and plateaus musicians can ascend to in their careers. There is the release of their first EP/7”. There is the release of their debut album and of course, the all-important sophomore LP. Any predicted success after those milestones is hardly a prediction unless it involves a comeback. When we define our artists to watch in 2016, it is using any and all of these criteria to identify buzz worthy bands. We want to help our readers get the jump on artists before corporate money corrupts their artistic process too much. While there are bands in this list based in cities other than Los Angeles, LA is our home base and seeing these bands live is a part of the process of selection. If you can’t do it live, you can’t do it! This is Janky Smooth’s List of Artists to Watch in 2016 20. Cavanaugh- Collaboration between Open Mike Eagle and Serengeti Time & Materials by Cavanaugh (Open Mike Eagle & Serengeti) 19. So Pitted- Punk/Post Punk Seattle Group on Sub Pop Records neo by
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Buzz Bait: An Interview with The Gooch Palms
Paige Vreede
December 5, 2015
It was an ordinary Wednesday night at the Cambridge hotel in Newcastle, Australia when vivacious musician Leroy McQueen first met mega babe, Kat Friend. Four years after meeting, the power couple decided they wanted to make music together. What started with just a bucket, a tambourine, and a guitar soon evolved into The Gooch Palms- multiple Australian tours, two American tours (with slots at places such at SxSW) and a forthcoming tape with Burger Records. The small-town duo blew up quickly and their infectious tunes certainly deserve to be well known. If you haven’t had the chance to catch them on their tour, do not fret, you can still catch one of their action packed shows (which usually results in nudity) TONIGHT, Dec 5th at The Echo for The Gooch Palms Burger tape release, alongside The Memories and The High Curbs. The Gooch Palms play their buoyant tunes with great enthusiasm and they are definitely a band not to miss. I had the pleasure of sitting at Echo Park Lake with them and a pack of Coopers and Tim Tams (if you haven’t experienced the pleasures of these Australian delicacies then I feel bad for you, son) to discuss their US tour, their upcoming
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Beach Goth 4: The Party of The Year
Danny Baraz
October 28, 2015
The freaks, stoners, hipsters, bloggers, vegans, photographers, rockers, punkers, pukers, trippers, hippies and seemingly every beautiful woman from Southern California to Vancouver attended The Growlers annual trademark event, Beach Goth 4 this past weekend. They came to celebrate the best thing in their lives- music. I talked to a unicorn from Australia, I smoked a joint with a fairy from Mexico City and got my nipple twisted by a witch from Westminster. It seemed as if all inhibition was lost as everyone’s freak flag flew sky high and more spit was swapped than at a mouth swabbing clinic. And there was music. Oh lord was there music. With little touches and surprises like The 5678’s serving as the house band on a small stage on day 1, The Selena Impersonators and G-Funk pioneer, Warren G randomly performing a song near the end of Day 2, Beach Goth 4 had one of the most exciting lineups since Woodstock (if you love independent music). The scheduling issues which plagued the festival last year were a distant memory. Then again, after riding the snake all weekend, this past yesterday seems like an eon of a couple lifetimes ago. Sure, the ticket price has
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It’s Not Dead Fest: The State of the Union
Danny Baraz
October 13, 2015
After my visit to San Manuel Amphitheater in San Bernardino yesterday and bearing witness to the 1000’s of punks kicking up huge clouds of dust In 100 degree weather at It’s Not Dead Fest, I can, without a doubt, attest to the fact that It’s NOT Dead. Not dead at all. Well, at least the part of IT that generates millions of dollars of revenue, world-wide. When people talk about “It” being “dead”, are they referring to “it’s” spirit? “It” is punk rock and I’ve written about this topic so many times now that this might be my swan song. Then again, if a 52 year old Milo Aukerman can stand in front of thousands of sweaty friends and play “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up” then I can write about “it”- again. After attending HiFi Rockfest a couple weeks back, I must admit, I WAS a bit worried about the future of hardcore punk but after the invasion and take over this weekend and thinking back to the last Punk Rock Bowling it became clear that the issue with HiFi Rockfest was 100% promotional. I hadn’t attended a Warped Tour in at least 15 years and this show reminded me
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Burger-a-go-go 2015: Feminism in Rock reviewed by “Some Guy”
Danny Baraz
September 8, 2015
Rock music has been a catalyst for social and political change since it’s inception. It’s not just three chords and a back beat. It’s poetry. It’s a manifesto and it not only serves as an individual expression but has also served as commentary for entire generations, as only great art can. The revered blues and country origins of rock music broke race barriers in popular music but it was largely a boys club until Janis Joplin completely upended not only the gender roles in rock but rock and roll itself. In the decades that followed, women have been responsible for some of the biggest leaps in rock and roll and it’s continuing evolution. Joplin, Grace Slick, Heart, Patti Smith, Suzi Quatro, Joan Jett, Chrissie Hynde and Debbie Harry. Those women traveled a road which at the time was bumpy, rocky, sexist and fueled by testosterone. I was careful not to wear my G.G. Allin shirt to this event and I am going to attempt to stay away from too much “Commentary on Feminism, written by ‘some dumb guy’” in this review. Let’s just say that, for all intents and purposes, this tumultuous road for women in rock has led us
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Vinyl Release Party with Them Howling Bones at Harvard and Stone
Taylor Wong
June 1, 2015
We love Them Howling Bones over here at Janky Smooth and we have been super hyped on this upcoming vinyl release of Them Howling Bones tracks: Follow You Home and Left For Dead. The release party had an awesome line up at an awesome bar with awesome people. What I’m trying to say is the party was awesome. The line up consisted of Sand Babes and Cutty Flam, two awesome Los Angeles bands and was brought to you by Pizza Party Music, A Pint of Cacophony, Cretin Hop and Janky Smooth. The night also consisted of Roger Mars from Cretin Hop providing some dancy tracks between sets. Sand Babes has that very psychedelic/surf vibe that’s been catching on here in LA. and all over the world. They remind me of Mystic Braves and The Growlers. They have a great sound but to be honest it’s starting to get very repetitive to me and becomes very difficult to stand out. Cutty Flam classify themselves as Prom Punk which I believe The Muffs classified themselves as that at Punk Rock Bowling. I’ve heard great things about Cutty Flam and was extremely excited to catch their set for the first time. I also
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Jello Biafra Talks Politics, Music and The Music Business
Danny Baraz
April 7, 2015
Interview and intro by Danny Baraz Getting some people to open up in an interview is like pulling teeth. That is not the case with Jello Biafra. It was about 20 minutes into our conversation before I even asked one of my pre-planned questions. That made the nerves I had before interviewing one of my ideological heroes dissipate instantly, so that our conversation about politics, music, the music business and the upcoming gig for Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine at Punk Rock Bowling feel like a casual conversation with a friend. I realized quickly why Jello has become such an icon of dissent. His ability to verbalize, crystalize and satirize pre-meditated confusion surrounding pop-culture, popular disinformation and the status quo make you feel sane in an insane world. One thing that surprised me was that he’s not buying into any far-reaching conspiracy theories that involve a small group of people controlling the world stage, either. He is an honest, intelligent and steadfast beacon of integrity and a lexicon of information. (Jello Biafra portraits shot by Elizabeth Sloan. Guantanamo school of medicine photo by Curtis Stankalis) “I was informed that I should be spending my high school years
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Burgerama 4: Burger Food Poisoning
Danny Baraz
April 2, 2015
Almost every place in the world now breeds the type of angsty teens that pick up guitars to butcher some out of tune power chords. What is it about Orange County, California that continuously, for the last three generations in a row, forms and re forms these amazing scenes that surround dozens of good local bands? Many bands that eventually rise to international fame or at least, notoriety. Decade after decade the youth of Orange County reject the status quo, vandalize their strip malls, piss in their pools and rock the fuck out. Once the music industry crashed and burned, you would think that those kick-pedal-carrying kids would remain in anonymity in the solitude of their own bedrooms, never to move out of their parents homes. Rising from the smoke and the ash of a music industry unwilling to adapt to the digital age comes Burger Records bearing, of all things, cassette tapes. They are here to service this generations’ insatiable thirst for angst, sex and adolescence. Burger Records was formed in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard. They allowed all their artists to retain complete control of their works and primarily, all of their releases have been on cassette.
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Depth Test for Broncho, Girl Band and Blair at The Echo
Danny Baraz
April 2, 2015
I made my way over to The Echo on Thursday night to check out a sold out show with headliner, Broncho. Irish noise rock group, Girl Band were my real motivation for attending this gig but I certainly was intrigued by seeing what the Broncho buzz was all about. Just a few hours earlier I got to cross an item off my bucket list after a marathon interview with Jello Biafra. I mention this only because it was relevant to the affect it had on my perception of all the bands’ performances that night- an affect, which reinforced the gut feeling I had about Girl Band and completely undermined the way I reacted to Wyatt Blair, also on the bill. So here it goes. The venue was dead silent as Girl Band took the stage. I could tell what type of audience this was going to be right away- beautiful and boring. The type of audience that attends a sold out show for a one hit wonder band although, that’s not fair to Broncho- I’m rather sure they’ll be around for a long time after Thursday night’s show. I’m referring to the fact that Broncho’s latest single, “Class Historian” seems to be amplifying out of a lot of people’s speakers
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Trash Talk, Ratking and Pangea: Slam Dance 101 at The Echoplex
Danny Baraz
March 23, 2015
“Everyone say Fuck You to my friends on the side of the stage here”. The Echoplex crowd was eager to oblige the demands made by Lee Spielman of Trash Talk on Friday night. “You ain’t special just because we drink beers together, and shit. Get your ass out there.” Friday night at the Echoplex brought us another installment of Check Yo Ponytail and the conclusion of a month on the road for Trash Talk, Ratking and junglist, Lee Bannon. Spielman and Wiki from Ratking seemed exhausted as they both mentioned separately during their sets how long the last 30 days of their life seemed. In between songs, Wiki seemed tilted like a half chopped down tree. I was ready to hear someone shout “Timber!” at any moment but every time a new song started, Wiki was in full control, crushing all verses without so much as a slur. Lee Spielman has become a master at putting together non-obvious, genre bending shows. He connects the best bands, MC’s and DJ’s and let’s the chips fall where they may. Even though Trash Talk is one of the only REAL thrash bands around right now, I’ve hardly ever seen them play with any
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Punk Rock Bowling 2015 Club Shows Announced
Danny Baraz
March 9, 2015
My favorite and most anticipated part of the Punk Rock Bowling weekend are the club shows. The club shows are by far the most intimate way to see legendary bands play in small, Downtown Las Vegas venues on Fremont street. All the club shows take place after the headlining bands finish their sets at the festival. The club show lineups were announced today and once again, there are some sick fucking shows taking place at night after being in the sweltering heat of the festival all day. GBH, The Dickies, The Weirdo’s, Strung Out, Pulley, The Crowd, Cadillac Tramps, 7 Seconds, Frank Turner and the English Beat are just a few of the announced bands that have been slated to play underrated downtown venues like The Fremont Country Club, Backstage Bar and Billiards, The Country Saloon and Beauty Bar. This year, The Stern brothers and BYO have also added The Bunkhouse Saloon as a new club show venue. As always, you can expect surprise guests like last year’s Cock Sparrer surprise set at Backstage Bar. I also noticed that the band No Parents has made it on the bill for a club show. No Parents have been making their rounds in
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The Dickies Dry Hump The Roxy
JustinThomas
February 23, 2015
“There is no better place to be on a Saturday night than Hollywood.” These were the words mumbled by my Uber driver. All while the lunatic stranger from our Uberpool ride-share aggressively barked lyrics from Sublime’s 40 oz of Freedom to an audience of one. My Saturday night was already headed in the right direction. I arrived at the historic Roxy Theatre around 8 PM. The curtains were drawn, mo hawks were groomed, and “The Dickies” back patches were imperfectly sewn onto sleeveless denim jackets. Each of the times I’ve been to the Roxy, every artist has acknowledged the history of this venue, and any number of google searches will result an overwhelming number of articles about the mystique of the Roxy. This all lead me to believe there is no better venue to see The Dickies, one of LA’s most historic punk bands. As the curtains raised for the first time, my eyes were met with pure bewilderment as the stage was set with two white dudes in freshly pressed Mormon door-knocking uniforms, slicked back hair, and a Wall-E-eque computer holding a MacBook. It all took a second to process and what followed was one of the best shticks in
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Josh Schwartz benefit at the Echoplex: L.A.’s Feel Good Moment
Lawrence Rengert
December 23, 2014
A few weeks ago I was in Highland Park and stopped by Brent Rademaker’s house. He gave me the low down on his new project, Gospel Beach but casually dropped that there was an unannounced benefit planned to aid an ailing local music legend, Josh Schwartz, who had been diagnosed with ALS. It was going to be a reunion of sorts, bands whose heyday had come and gone would perform just this one show to raise money for Josh’s out-of-the-country treatments, an experimental hope that his debilitating condition could somehow be stopped, healed, cured or reversed. Several of these bands hadn’t played in years, but the names are familiar: Beachwood Sparks, Summer Hits w/ Ariel Pink, The Tyde. Josh had some hand in the creation or promotion of each one, was a mentor or added his guitar parts. In fact, Josh had been a magnet for several people and they would speak of him at the concert as “the only meaningful person they met in LA” or “the guy who recorded my first album” or “the best guitar player in Los Angeles.” There would also be a select few newer bands playing. Mostly very young garage types from Orange County;
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Burgerama 4 Announcement Party with together Pangea, No Parents and Others.
Taylor Wong
December 9, 2014
Five dollars made all the kids holler last night in the Constellation Room at The Observatory. Burger Records threw a show last night with bands White Night, Unkle Funkle & Free Weed, No Parents, and Together Pangea. This show was a Burgerama 4 line up release party even though the Burgerama line up had actually leaked to the internet before any one at the show actually knew who was playing. They actually never told us what the line up was. You had to be paying attention to the music the DJ was playing to get the list of bands. Pretty fuckin clever if you ask me. Here is the amazing lineup for Burgerama 4 taking place March 28th and 29th at, of course, The Observatory in Santa Ana. Tickets go on sale this Friday, 12/12/14 at 10am and you can purchase them here. Oh boy oh boy oh boy. The opening band White Night played mid speed thrashers. The first couple songs hand the crowd second guessing White Night. I decided to stand in the empty pit and grab a few photos. That was my first mistake of the night. The children of the corn, as I like to call
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