Search Results for: destruction unit

Return to Reign: Sound and Fury Presents Terror and Strife at 1720

Rob Shepyer May 4, 2022

How crazy is it that it’s been three years since the last Sound and Fury? Here was this festival that acted as a living metaphor for eternal youth and summer love, and then it got suspended by lockdowns that in essence froze people’s minds from maturing while their bodies very much got three or five or ten years older over the pandemic. Still though, the relevance of the bands that made Sound and Fury so special haven’t been diminished one bit since they demolished the Belasco. Mindforce and Dead Heat are still the young princes in this kingdom. Meanwhile, Terror and Strife are still kings. related content: L.A.’s Best Festival is Sound And Fury (imo). Here’s Why: Dead Heat opening a hardcore show must mean there’s some kind of killer lineup ahead. Usually, this band is either the closer or direct support, brought out as some kind of secret weapon to really get the festivities popping off, but this show was almost a mini-festival, and the pits needed to be wild right from the jump, so who better than Ventura County’s own nardcore royalty, Dead Heat? Nobody’s better, that’s who. related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 Legendary New

L.A.’s Best Festival is Sound and Fury (imo). Here’s Why:

Rob Shepyer July 19, 2018

There are many qualities that make Sound and Fury Los Angeles’ best festival. I will try to touch upon them all in this article and also review every band that played the festival and after shows. You will want to attend the festival after reading this and not because I’m novelizing the experience but rather, what actually takes place at Sound and Fury is so uniquely incredible that the only reason a fan of heavy music wouldn’t want to attend is because they don’t know the festival exists. So, consider this your introduction: Sound and Fury is a hardcore music festival that began in 2006 in Ventura, California. Hosting legendary sets by underground hardcore artists whether they be in warehouses or the back of a U-haul like for Trash Talk in 2009, the festival’s momentum kept growing and growing until moving to the Regent Theater in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, the festival had expanded to the point that it could upgrade to the Belasco Theater. related content: The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth Gathering bands from all around North America (and one from Finland) to perform on two stages in the Belasco or at various

U.S. Girls Sell Out The Moroccan Lounge: The Most Soulfulest Sound

Rob Shepyer March 15, 2018

My adventures through the Los Angeles music scene took me to The Moroccan Lounge on Tuesday where one of the brightest stars off the legendary 4AD records had sold the place out on a damn school night. U.S. Girls go right alongside powerful, female-led bands like The Pretenders, Sleater-Kinney, and Haim in the rock and roll halls of history but even among those bands, I can see a potential in U.S. Girls’ leader, Meghan Remy, that I don’t think shined quite as warmly or as obviously as the others. Oddly enough, I first heard about this band by watching Power Trip on Amoeba’s “What’s In My Bag” series. Where part of singer, Riley Cayle’s selection was none other than U.S. Girls’ Half Free. related content: Power Trip & Destruction Unit Leave The Teragram In Ash & Rubble related content: Nature World Night Out At The Regent: Building Bridges Between Hardcore And Hip Hop Beginning as a noise-pop project, Meghan Remy was inspired by Riot Grrrl bands and Crass to create a rebellious and beautiful amalgamation of pop, jazz, funk, and electro-punk which is best represented in the band’s 2018 release

Video Premiere: Baronen & Satan “Why Does The Blood Never Stick To Your Teeth” Janky Smooth Exclusive

Janky Smooth Central Command March 9, 2018

Calling all garage punks, psych rockers, and Luciferian Satanists, we have a band from you straight out of the gothic darkness of Gothenburg, Sweden. The Swedish have always given the world some of the most insane music, think Brainbombs and Bathroy, and Baronen & Satan are no exception. Melding psych rock and garage punk with ear-splitting distortion and reverb that harkens bands like Destruction Unit, this band’s latest video for the single “Why Does The Blood Never Stick To Your Teeth” is sure to make you sharpen your fangs. related content: Berserktown 3: The Craziest Festival On Earth This quartet led by Phillippe Sainz and Linda Rydellius is signed to Dirty Water Records and is ready to invade the divide consciousness of the United States. With music produced by Detroit Legend Jim Diamond, the buzz on this band is only beginning. Check out the video, if you Kenneth Anger films, liquid light, and altered states of mind you’re sure to like the visuals. If you like heavy rock with soul then you’re sure to like the music.

Nature World Night Out At The Regent: Building Bridges Between Hardcore and Hip Hop

Rob Shepyer March 3, 2018

Nature World Night Out is musical proof that there is more variation within the groups we separate ourselves into than between those groups. On the surface, Hardcore music and Hip Hop may seem on opposite poles of the musical spectrum but after a little bit of inspection, you realize they both have similar bounce, fashion, and both originated from the streets. Whether you’re black, brown, or white; male or female, there were artists in the Hardcore or Rap categories performing at this festival for you to project yourself onto. I remember my first Nature World Night Out, two years ago back when it was a one night event at Union Nightclub with Trash Talk and Soulja Boy co-headlining. The night was also my introduction to Antwon, Hip Hop’s ambassador to Hardcore and one of the festival organizers. Needless to say, that first NWNO was amazing and to this day, I still regret missing the second NWNO with Cam’ron… these guys booked Cam’ron to play on the same stage as Jesus Piece and No Warning for God’s sakes. related content: Trash Talk, Ratking, and Pangea: Slam Dance 101 At The Echoplex This year’s third annual installment migrated downtown to the Regent

The Janky Smooth Top 10 Shows of 2017 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command January 19, 2018

Above any album or single releases, CONCERTS had to be the best thing about music in 2017. It wasn’t necessarily the dissidence in the air but rather the acts that chose to play in Los Angeles, that made the year so good. Bands like James Chance and The Contortions made their fateful returns to our city after over twenty years of hiding on the East Coast. Audioslave reunited for the first time in ages and tragically ended up simultaneously playing their final show at the Teragram Ballroom. Every band in the Big 4 of Thrash was on tour in 2017. Lets also not forget that Iggy fucking Pop played four festivals and during every set he raged like it was 1987. The concerts were great and somehow the festivals only got better, FYF expanded this year to three days and got Frank Ocean to serenade us like only he can; Desert Daze had King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Sleep absolutely kill it; and Sound and Fury raged with Trapped Under Ice and Turnstile headlining. I think 2018 will have an impossible time trying to beat 2017 but who knows, Yanni’s on tour. Janky Smooth has listed our best

If Ever A Band Was My Home: Ceremony’s HOME SICK Festival At The Phoenix Theater

Rob Shepyer January 18, 2018

I have been waiting for so long to write about Ceremony that referencing their performances in completely unrelated articles just became a habit of mine. If I was writing about hardcore punk moshing and stage diving then I’d compare the peaks of that violence to the bar set by Ceremony when Anthony Anzaldo strums the first notes of “Kersed” or when Jake Casorotti starts the kick drum intro to their cover of Red C’s “Pressure’s On”. If I was talking about Joy Division’s many offspring, like in my Cloak and Dagger review, I’d talk about how Ceremony’s “L Shaped Man” is the only derivative of that style worth its weight. If I was talking about what I feel is the spirit of America as expressed in music, I would say it’s when Ceremony plays “Hysteria” and you can almost transport yourself back in time when Bill Haley & His Comets performed “Rock Around The Clock”, it’s that same desperate need to let loose, still in the air after half a century. “…The only young band I’ve seen come close was Ceremony performing “Kersed” at Sound and Fury 2016, when the entire audience erupted when the opening notes of the song

The Battle of The Bays: Obituary & Exodus Clash At Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer October 12, 2017

Thrash is the father of every form of extreme metal on the heavy metal family tree. If it wasn’t for Slayer there would be no death metal or black metal. There have always been bands that have teetered on the border of death and thrash metal, german thrash bands like Kreator and Sodom brought death metal vocals and heaviness into thrash, while bands like Obituary brought thrash metal accessibility and groove into death metal. Perhaps that was always the secret to Obituary’s longevity, of all the original Florida death metal bands, beginning with Chuck Shuldiner’s Death then continued with Morbid Angel and Deicide, Obituary is the only band of the bunch still reigning. What separated Obituary’s music from these other bands is that they took a more accessible, groove and rhythm approach to death metal, it wasn’t a total noise fest of blast beats and guttural vocals. The band was always more seeped in their southern rock roots than the rest. Almost like how Weedeater is to stoner metal. related content: Weedeater And The Obsessed At The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool The Florida death metal sound was born out of Tampa Bay in the Morrisound Recording studio but then

Destruction Unit at The Teragram Ballroom

Power Trip & Destruction Unit Leave The Teragram in Ash & Rubble

Rob Shepyer April 11, 2017

Being a music and live show junky has made me a frequent visitor to the Teragram Ballroom. Quite simply- it’s the shit. Big stage. Perfect acoustics. Good booking. Excellent bathroom and bar placement. I’ve noticed though, they don’t have many metal shows. So, it’s a shame for the venue that the one time a metal band gets booked, Power Trip rolls into town with Destruction Unit and just completely leveled the venue into rubble. Power Trip is probably one of the best young bands to carry the thrash torch after the big 4. In fact, along with Iron Reagan, Toxic Holocaust, and Havok, they’re part of the new big 4. That said, I came to see Destruction Unit. Destruction Unit was close to becoming the Berkserktown house band after tearing down the house at 2 but then being unable to play at Berserktown 3. The void Destruction Unit left for Berserktown 3 gave me that disturbed feeling in my gut, that burning desire that you get only when you miss a band you want to see because of circumstances beyond your control. You wait at the edge of your seat, for years sometimes, waiting for them to announce the next show

Chicano Batman minus the tuxedos at SXSW by Taylor Wong

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

Berserktown 3: The Craziest Festival on Earth

Rob Shepyer August 18, 2016

2016 is the year everyone decided to step it up. Sound and Fury rolled out to the Regent, Beach Goth bounced to Oaks Canyon Park, Desert Daze doubled down to the Institute of Mental Physics, and the fest that I attended this past weekend, Berserktown 3 raided and shut down the Teragram Ballroom. Berserktown 2: Music Fringe Binge at the Observatory Beach Goth 4: The Party of the Year Desert Daze 2015: The Festival for the 21st Century I see every festival like it’s a good friend trying to impose their music on you with a mixtape of a bunch of bands you’ve never heard of but Berserktown is the best one of those friends that knows all the right bands to show any punk with (dis)tasteful sensibility. The lineup is handpicked with acts that are hard to see anywhere in the world, all of completely different genres. Where else can I see Parisian Oi, Mexican darkwave, death rock from Nuke York, experimental noise out of England, punk rock legends from Belgium, and Sweden’s Brainbombs all in one weekend? With so much range, creativity and originality spewing out of Berserktown, I couldn’t help but wonder if some future genius was

New Album Review: CCR Headcleaner- Tear Down the Wall

Brent Smith June 20, 2016

Tear Down the Wall is something else. That’s not an empty idiom. The San Francisco mind-ravaging outfit CCR Headcleaner gives us its strangest trip yet, and in today’s saturation of garage racket, it’s not easy to make such a conspicuous deviation. In only 8 tracks, the hardcore psych noise of Tear Down the Wall is heavy enough to leave you with a biting LSD hangover, but still terse enough to be hungry for more. Taking more hits is a given. Tear Down the Wall is out via In The Red Records June 17th, though I figured at first it was something coming out of the Sacred Bones camp, which would’ve been just as well, as CCR has toured with Fuzz, Human Eye, and Destruction Unit alike. I was reminded a bit of Metz, just more unhinged (if you can buy it), or the heady savagery of the Butthole Surfers, just more revved up on the thrash. All the songs are inhabited by ominous melodies and minor vocals that could score a Jim Jarmusch film set in decrepit Detroit. Though chaos is the name of the game, the songs are nonetheless stitched together with keen methodology; short bursts of crunchy insanity, and long,

Lust For Youth & Drab Majesty Bring Dark Vibes To Teragram Ballroom

Brent Smith March 28, 2016

It was a night of dark wave synth-pop acts—musicians whose sounds and performances not only blurred the line between singer-songwriter and producer, but gave us Angelenos an electro beacon for something profound beyond the hypnotic singularity of our cellphone glow. Spearheaded by Lust For Youth, it was a also a night that properly introduced me to the noise/punk/electronica sound coming out of Copenhagen and other pockets of Scandinavia. Just as Ty Segall and cohorts here on the West Coast are constantly collaborating and intermingling themselves into one huge rock ‘n’ roll collective, so is Lust For Youth along with bands like Iceage, Lower, Vår, Puce Mary, and Hand of Dust. While Segall’s sonic quest seems to trace elements of blues, rock, proto-punk and psych, Lust For Youth’s seems one of exploration (and maybe reconciliation?) between post-punk, experimental noise, ambient, and house. The results are both sinister and sublime. The full moon was keeping me going, its light beaming like the sun in the clear, black sky as I rumbled into downtown on fumes. The doorman at the entrance gave me blue and pink bracelets and I went into the cold theater space, mostly empty with a few kids moping around

Savages at FYF 2015 by Taylor Wong-Top 10 Concerts of 2015

Year In Review: Top 10 Concerts of 2015 Rated by Contributors

Danny Baraz December 18, 2015

Since the beginning of time, mankind grabbed whatever it could find to tap out and amplify the rhythm in our souls. From the most tribal roots of humanity, those rhythms brought us to our feet and inspired us into spastic soliloquies and baby making motions. Before the advent of the recording studio, there was only one way to hear music- LIVE. For true music snobs and purists, if you can’t do it live, you can’t do it. That is my segway into Janky Smooth’s Top 10 Concerts of 2015. Janky Smooth contributors attended 100’s of shows this year. Selecting the top 10 concerts of 2015 was quite a challenge. Most of the concerts we attended were in Los Angeles so while new labels, venues and promoters are taking advantage of the music explosion taking place all over the globe, Los Angeles continues to be it’s music capital. I often complain about the low energy of concert attendees in the city of my birth and while a handful of bands have been skipping Los Angeles on their tour schedules for this reason and opt for Pomona or Orange County, there’s no denying that if you hype up a Los Angeles crowd, you

Small Talk With JS Aurelius of Destruction Unit

Danny Baraz December 17, 2015

JS Aurelius, highly experimental guitarist of Destruction Unit has brought a rageful and introspective creativity to the psychedelic hardcore punk outfit, Destruction Unit. Since the addition of himself and Nick Nappa to the Destruction Unit, unit, the band has blossomed into their highly unique sound like a parasitic plant. I was able to find out more about the Destruction Unit creative process and what motivates Aurelius in our next installment of Small Talk. Danny Baraz: In September, you played your record release party for Negative Feedback Resistor at the Teragram in Los Angeles. The Critical Resistance organization was present to help spread the word about their movement which seeks to dismantle the “prison industrial complex”. It made me very happy to see a contemporary band taking part in political activism. Rock bands have always pushed the political conversation forward to new generations of fans/kids. Why do you think that such a few amount of up and coming and established bands are interested in getting political and why is it important to you and Destruction Unit? JS Aurelius: I think being political is unappealing because politics as a whole are so unappealing. It’s all so far beyond broken that even

Kevin Parker Shredding at Hollywood Forever Cemetery- Top 10 Concerts of 2015 shot by David Evanko

Year in Review: Top 10 Songs of 2015 Rated by Contributors

Danny Baraz December 15, 2015

Every year has a song or songs that define it. That song that will always remind you of the best summer ever, the worst summer ever, the year your child was born, the year you graduated high school, the year you dropped out of high school. A song that paints a picture in your mind. Songs you love. Songs you hate. Both can be just as powerful. This is Janky Smooth’s list of the Top 10 Songs of 2015 as rated by our regular contributors. Rating the Top 10 Songs of 2015 is much more difficult than rating the Top 10 Albums of 2015. Masterpiece albums are much more rare than the single flash of inspiration required to create one, catchy 3-5 minute arrangement. Top 10 Songs of 2015 Justin Cornwall- Author: Top 10 Songs of 2015 Beck- Dreams Tame Impala- Let it Happen Chemical Brothers ft. Beck- Wide Open Robert DeLong- Long Way Down RATATAT- Cream on Chrome Bob Moses- Tearing Me Up Best Coast- California Nights Romare- Love Song Kendrick Lamar- King Kunta Disclosure ft Lorde- Magnets Top Post: Sylvan Esso Moves the Fonda for Day 3 of 30 Days in L.A. David Evanko- Photographer: Top 10 Songs

Destruction Unit Record Release at The Teragram Ballroom

Brent Smith September 17, 2015

Arriving at the Teragram Ballroom on 7th Street, dodging traffic, skate rats, and the regular stream of Monty Bar freaks, I dipped under the sleek, neon blue marquee, through the main doors, and into the archway of the foyer where Destruction Unit release party event collaborators Critical Resistance had a table amongst all the merch. I was just in time to see the opening acts spew death metal and summon the Devil in guttural tongues. It was the record release party for Destruction Unit’s long-awaited album of concussive rhythm and psychedelic overdrive Negative Feedback Resistor (Sacred Bones Records). In a word? Shit was lit. There were lots of freaks and aliens, but not as many as I expected. Or maybe it was just a perception thing, since the Teragram is deceptively big for only having a capacity of 600. There always seems to be tons of room whenever I’m there, while being intimate at the same time. The Teragram is little sister to New York key players The Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom, and got its name from owner Michael Swier’s late wife “Margaret” spelled backward. It’s hardly a planted flag for New York, rather it’s among the few venues

Destruction Unit with JS Aurelius shot by David Evanko

New Album Review: Destruction Unit- Negative Feedback Resistor

Danny Baraz September 10, 2015

There is nothing in the world like seeing Destruction Unit live, in concert. Nothing. The overpowering and overwhelming sonic assault staggers the senses and literally knocks you off balance. I really can’t explain it but the word literally is used literally. At last months show at Berserktown II at The Observatory, they played a song off their new album, Negative Feedback Resistor that made me feel really weird, physically. As I dug into this new album, I instantly recognized it as “Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight”, track 4 off of Negative Feedback Resistor. Like a self-induced inner ear infection, the Destruction Unit live show is reminiscent of a drug psychosis. The chaotic six string arrangements aren’t just multiple guitars playing the same riffs. Octaves and detuned layers fit in each others jagged edges until a mountain of sound buries you in symbiotic harmony, as one lead guitar varies from the main arrangement with feedback and noise. With 8 LP’s under their belt, multiple EP’s and 7 “ releases, the Destruction Unit lineup whose original cast in 2000 included Jay Reatard and Alicia Trout has been steady with their last 2 releases. With an occasional curveball like throwing in Alex Zhang Hungtai from

Thee Oh Sees at Berserktown II by David Evanko

Berserktown II: Music Fringe Binge at The Observatory

Danny Baraz August 18, 2015

Last year at around this same time, the first annual Berserktown Festival was in the midst of a filthy, sweaty, hardcore but successful mess at club Los Globos in the Silverlake district of Los Angeles. A harder edged alternative to Echo Park Rising, Berserktown was successful enough for a sequel this year. With ambition in his heart and dollar signs in his eyes, Church on York captain, Graeme Flegenheimer decided to take some risks in an attempt to expand and grow his vision. The result was one of the most interesting festival lineups I have seen in quite some time. It was a buffet of musical delicacies and rarities such as Dead Moon, Royal Trux, Lust for Youth, No Hope for the Kids, Destruction Unit and Total fucking Control. When it was announced that the second annual Berserktown would be held at The Observatory in Orange County I thought to myself, this could either be genius or it could be a disaster- like a football coach deciding to go for it on 4th and inches, late in the game, backed up deep in their end zone. The Church on York venture has been disturbing the music scene’s status quo in

Take This: Berserktown II Ticket Giveaway at The Observatory

Janky Smooth Central Command July 31, 2015

Did you see the lineup for Berserktown II festival at The Observatory? It’s tough to pinpoint what we’re MOST excited for but a Royal Trux reunion is a good place to start. Not to mention, TOTAL CONTROL from Australia, The return of Destruction Unit to this years lineup, Dead Moon and Thee Oh fucking Sees. Those are only a fraction of the bands booked that will make you swing your elbows. Last year’s Berserktown festival was facking insane and this year looks even crazier. The move to The Observatory was a great one, even if you have to drive from L.A. The Observatory is becoming a premier venue for these types of festivals and Church off York has solidified themselves as a premier talent booker and promoter of shows in L.A. and Orange County. Single day Berserktown II tickets are $55 and a 3 day passes are $125 with payment plans available. You can purchase tickets HERE WE ARE GIVING AWAY A PAIR OF 3 DAY PASSES TO Berkerktown II to ONE LUCKY WINNER. Contest Rules: 1. Follow us on Twitter and Like our Facebook Page 2. Retweet and share our contest post on FB and Twitter. 3. Leave a