Danny Ryan, Author at Jankysmooth

Danny Ryan

Blast Beat Apocalypse: Cannibal Corpse at the Wiltern

Danny Ryan December 2, 2022

Cannibal Corpse is a band that does not need any sort of introduction, as they really are an artist that you immediately fall in love with or you turn off instantly upon your first listen. Hell, you could probably decide how you feel about them just from the first time viewing their iconic grotesquely detailed album covers. Cannibal Corpse represents nearly every aspect of metal music that is off-putting to the casual listener, from the deep growling vocals of frontman Corpsegrinder to their nonstop blast beats and high-frequency piercing guitar solos. While The Wiltern was the last venue I would expect to see an artist this extreme, Cannibal Corpse’s recent sold out performance proved that the love for death metal that passionate fans have is stronger than ever and their dedication to the genre can force itself into the most unexpected of environments. Black Anvil kicked off the absolutely stacked lineup, offering a completely different brand of black metal than we would see from Dark Funeral later that night. Black metal purists may scoff at their polished production and use of synthesizers present, but Black Anvil’s formula of more emotional post-hardcore and shoegaze influenced black metal definitely represents the future

Arcade Fire at the Forum: Indie Rock’s Phoenix Burns Again

Danny Ryan November 30, 2022

While indie rock may still be one of the most popular genres amongst casual listeners, it’s no secret that the genre and aesthetics have fallen far past their heyday. With how many artists from the peak of indie rock that seem to be lost in their navigation of current trends, bands that have been able to adapt and reinvent themselves amongst new scenes really stand out in building a more promising future than their peers. Arcade Fire’s recent 2 night residency at The Forum represented a shift in direction for the band’s sound and overall attitude, feeling much more like an arena rock performance than the more modest and independent aesthetic that they were previously known for. With their recent Grammy nomination for “Best Alternative Rock Album”, Arcade Fire’s bold and energetic performance proved themselves as stars within the alternative genre as they continue to rise from the ashes of the indie scene they once dominated. Before Arcade Fire had even taken the stage, it was clear that their performance would be leagues more theatrical and grandiose than what most early 00’s indie bands have to offer in 2022. The Forum’s stage was transformed into a black hole as the

30 years of “Bricks Are Heavy”: L7 at the Regent

Danny Ryan November 7, 2022

In celebration of its 30th Anniversary, L7 performed their groundbreaking 1992 album Bricks are Heavy in its entirety for two sold out nights at the Regent Theater. With the original lineup present, L7 brought the rage-filled attitude of 1992 to the modern day with the utmost passion as they played to a crowd of diehard fans of the classic album. With how fundamental L7 was in refining the grunge sound and empowering women artists of the early 90’s, the concert was a rare opportunity to experience one of the most important eras in music history up-close and intimately. It’s hard to imagine the album being 30 years old now, with L7 still generating the youthful punk-rock spirit that made them legends in the first place. One of the first things that could be noticed upon entering The Regent Theater that night was how wide the range of ages in the audience was. It was immediately apparent how inspirational L7 has been for younger feminism-focused music scenes, as they had been releasing albums before the Riot Grrrl movement and the mainstream explosion of female-fronted punk bands like No Doubt in the 90’s. Even though many of these younger fans may not

Nitzer Front: Cold Waves LA at The Mayan

Danny Ryan October 12, 2022

The number of different types of artists and sounds that fall under the banner of “industrial music” is incredibly wide, ranging from full bands with live instruments to solo artists with only a backing track behind them. While industrial influences can be found in scenes such as goth, noise, metalcore, psych rock and different forms of electronic music; the origins of the movement are not always credited as often as the artists who took these influences. Cold Waves Festival at The Mayan Theater focuses on bringing the roots of the industrial live experience to a modern audience, showcasing rare performances by international artists from all different eras and sounds within the genre. Cold Waves Festival is truly a one-of-a-kind event, as it’s rare to see a festival so dedicated in paying respect to a genre’s history while equally hosting upcoming artists that carry the torch for its future. Leathers was the first performer of the evening, being the solo project of Shannon Hemmett from the post-punk band Actors. The project has a lot of 80’s synthpop influence in its instrumentals, with the echo effects on Hemmett’s voice creating an element of distance in its sound to stand apart from these

The Golden Coast: Portola Festival 2022

Danny Ryan October 6, 2022

Electronic dance music festivals have been controversial amongst live music enthusiasts for quite some time. It’s clear to see why due to the emphasis on drug use, tendency to attract rowdy youth that are more focused on partying than the love for the music, massive and potentially dangerous crowds, and lack of genre diversity in the lineups. The Portola Festival at Pier 80 in San Francisco was Goldenvoice and Non Plus Ultra’s answer to these criticisms, returning the pure love for different forms of electronic music and visual art to the raving experience. Portola hosted a massive lineup of DJs and artists ranging from the 90’s rave roots of Fatboy Slim and The Chemical Brothers, to modern DJ legends Jamie XX and Flume, and even to electronic-influenced pop stars with Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek. No matter what your flavor of raving is, Portola Festival had you covered with all forms of non-stop dancing the entire weekend. Portola Festival’s setting was incredibly industrial to match the energy of the warehouse shows that electronic dance music is rooted in, with the Pier 80 location being in a parking lot surrounded by enormous ships on the dock and a tranquil view of

Cyber-Core: Vein. FM at the Echoplex

Danny Ryan September 22, 2022

Vein.fm’s signature blend of emotionally driven post-hardcore and ferocious metalcore with unpredictable glitchy electronic-based samples transformed the Echoplex into a violent cyperpunk apocalypse with their recent headlining performance. With the show starting at 6pm, they hosted a nearly festival-sized lineup of upcoming hardcore punk bands from all different sounds that shared a common theme of having intense, ass-beating breakdowns that inspire spin-kicks throughout the room. As hardcore punk gains more prominence with current trends, bands like Vein.fm and co-headliner Candy are beginning to break into the audiences of other heavy music scenes more than ever. If you’re a fan of punk rock, metal, or even heavier electronic IDM scenes at all, then Vein.fm should absolutely be one of the top bands on your radar. With the show starting at the incredibly early time of 6pm, the first opening acts of the night were Twist of Cain, Living Weapon, and Momentum. Each band brought their own unique brand of hardcore to the lineup, with Twist of Cain starting things off sounding raw as all hell with their lack of effects or electronics compared to the rest of the bands that evening. Twist of Cain has an incredibly down-to-earth hardcore sound with

Anarcho Surf: Osees at 1720

Danny Ryan September 2, 2022

Words by: Danny Ryan Black and White Photos by: Erika Reinsel Color Photos by: Manuel Arredondo Osees’ recent show at 1720 Warehouse embodied the rowdier side of California’s alternative music scene in its purest form. Their signature mixture of garage rock, prog-rock, surf music, punk, and noise rock is brilliantly crafted to contrast between rapidly-paced walls of sound that fill the venue with breaks of blissful psychedelia to provide moments of rest from the chaos. The sold out evening had the energy ramped up to 11 the entire show with no signs of slowing down throughout, even with the Osees’ headlining set being nearly an hour and 40 minutes long. Osees manage to be one of the most experimental live performers to grace the stage, while never sacrificing their loud in-your-face rock n’ roll energy to explore these different sounds. Although 1720 Warehouse was transformed into a rambunctious party for the evening, Osees provide this riotous atmosphere with the avant-garde nature of a fine art piece and blend these two spirits into an absolutely incomparable experience. The opener of the evening was Zig Zags, a garage punk band that bordered on thrash metal at times with their speedy guitar riffs,

Dissecting Slaughter of the Soul: At The Gates at the Fonda

Danny Ryan August 26, 2022

It’s not every day that you see an artist play two different sets within the same evening, especially when one of those sets is their magnum opus album being played from start to finish. At The Gates’ kick-off show of their Slaughter of the Soul 20 Year Anniversary tour at the Fonda Theater was not your average metal concert, and didn’t feel like any sort of conventional concert for that matter. Seeing the album performed in full truly felt like visiting an artistic piece being showcased in a museum, being viewed in awe from those with a deep appreciation for the work. The album is one of the most ambitious metal albums in history with At The Gates’ incorporation of classical music-esque guitar solos and more melodic elements than what was seen in death metal at the time, creating an atmospheric and immense sound that filled the Fonda for that evening. With a speedy and crass thrash set from Municipal Waste before At The Gates, the night provided an insight to the diverse range of sounds that heavy metal has offered throughout its history. Municipal Waste was an odd choice for an opener in my opinion. In contrast to the

Talkin’ Limp Bizkit, Kevin Smith and Hardcore: Scowl Interview

Danny Ryan August 12, 2022

Fresh off the heels of an iconic Sound and Fury set, we caught up with Scowl‘s rhythm section, drummer Cole Gilbert and bassist Bailey Lupo, on the night of their show opening for Destroy Boys at the Teragram Ballroom. Apart from an incredible set that night, they shared amazing insights on hardcore, touring with Limp Bizkit, and Kevin Smith movies. related content: Risks Make Better Memories Than Nostalgia: Sound And Fury 2022 Interview by: Danny Ryan So I saw your guys’ set at Sound and Fury Fest this last weekend… Cole and Bailey: Oh, hell yeah (at the same time) It was one of my favorite sets of the entire weekend. Cole: Dude, thank you! I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, but I just didn’t know it was going to be that wild. It was really fun, really cool. Especially being from California. It was like, damn, you all really like us huh? Bailey: It was an honor, growing up and going to Sound and Fury thinking “Man, it’d be crazy to play this someday”. I think the last Sound and Fury right before Covid, I don’t know if Scowl was quite a band yet

Whole Crew in the House: The Game at the Novo

Danny Ryan July 16, 2022

Words by: Danny Ryan Photos by: Manuel Arredondo The standards for what makes a hip-hop artist a GOAT amongst fans have shifted dramatically in recent years, as newer rappers bring more eccentric personalities and more diverse influences of sound into the genre than what was seen in its earlier history. As hip-hop evolves through this experimentation, the common debate of which rappers are considered the greatest has widened profoundly from the days of “2Pac vs Biggie” arguments. This is a natural progression, as many younger hip-hop heads grew up listening to more artists from the early 00’s than the artists worshiped throughout the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. Even as these standards change, most younger hip-hop fans have a deep appreciation for the roots of the genre and understand the importance of earlier scenes within it. Nobody has more respect for these ranges in hip-hop’s history than The Game, and his dedication to the genre could not have been more apparent than in his heartfelt tributes to the legends of every era of hip-hop that the audience experienced during his recent “Drillmatic” record release at the Novo Theater. related content: Lyrical Assassin: Pusha T’s “It’s Almost Dry Tour” Hits the Novo

The Calm Before the Shit Storm: S.H.I.T. at Zebulon

Danny Ryan July 11, 2022

Words by: Danny Ryan Photos by: Albert Licano With the constant shifts of trends and sounds that have taken place in punk rock music throughout the years, shows nowadays can often feel as though the genre has been restructured so drastically that the roots of it are hard to find. With the current emphasis on the structured breakdowns in hardcore punk and the genre-bending influences found in emo and pop-punk, it’s a breath of fresh air to come across an artist that simply plays their music as fast and chaotic as possible. S.H.I.T.’s recent show at Zebulon with The Passing and Abuso De Poder was a stacked lineup that moved at lightning speed, epitomizing this classic formula of rapid instrumentals mixed with noisey feedback and the snarling character that punk rock was founded on. While recent evolutions of the genre have brought the scene to a larger audience, S.H.I.T. is a band with deep appreciation for the origins of punk rock and they aim to re-create the disorderly energy that the genre was known for. The most impressive aspect of S.H.I.T. is their ability to evoke this feeling of early punk scenes without emulating the past in a nostalgic way

Ringleaders of the Underground: Teenage Wrist at the Echo

Danny Ryan June 22, 2022

Words and Photos by: Danny Ryan Teenage Wrist’s range of influence is incredibly wide with their embrace of grunge-era angst seamlessly blending into moments of blissful shoegaze breakdowns. With how large and atmospheric the band’s sound is, the modest stage presence rooted in their DIY background complimented the small venue atmosphere of The Echo amazingly. Their newest album “Earth is a Black Hole” signifies a drastic shift in the band’s sound, with a new vocalist and a much more punk-influenced sound than the emo roots of their previous works. Teenage Wrist has consistently been dedicated to their evolution with exploration of incorporating new genres throughout their career, which was clearly represented with the contrasting musical styles of each opener. The exciting feeling of seeing promising up-and-coming bands that could eventually take over the world was felt throughout The Echo that night, and Teenage Wrist came across as ringleaders of the underground with how much unique charisma that could be felt in each performance. Equally important to the blend of genres in Teenage Wrist’s headlining set at The Echo, the band curated an excellent lineup of diverse sounds from different underground backgrounds with the 90’s college rock influence of Soft Blue