Category: NEWS

The New S.A.- The New Sound Alliance- art by Joey Feldman

The New S. A.- The New Sound Alliance Voter Registration Org

Danny Baraz February 3, 2016

Janky Smooth is proud to launch The New S.A.- The New Sound Alliance. We endorse no candidates. We are Americans. We support a more responsible version of capitalism. Our only mission is to register first time voters to insure that only candidates that represent “the People” of The United States of America receive sufficient representation in US Government. Please; Register to Vote now and JOIN THE NEW SOUND ALLIANCE. Our first event will take place in late May, 2016. We will be well past Super Tuesday, with a much clearer picture of the General Election. Full lineup, location and special guests announced soon. Join our newsletter and you will be informed of everything we are involved in and it will act as your RSVP to all our free events. Please share this post if you are interested in registering first time voters. WE stand at a crossroads. We can no longer talk about how much we care about this issue or that issue and then say “Someone else will take up the fight but right now, we have to worry about our own thang”. Time to decide where we stand in all this before The United States of America is unlivable for

LCD Soundsystem Christmas Will Break Your Heart

LCD Soundsystem Release Xmas 7″- “Christmas Will Break Your Heart”

Danny Baraz December 24, 2015

With all the back and forth about the possible LCD Soundsystem reunion that isn’t actually happening, the release of their first new song in 5 years suggests that the band might have a couple new year’s resolutions. Just over an hour ago James Murphy tweeted from the LCD Soundsystem Twitter account about a Christmas song he’s been singing in his head for the past 8 years, always forgetting to record it until another Xmas would pass. It appears that this year would not pass without the band not only recording the song but also releasing it on 7″ here via Murphy’s label, DFA Records. The song was also released today and posted to a YouTube account called LCD Xmas. This song is sure to become an anthem for sad bastards everywhere who are getting drunk alone on the most depressingly jolly day of the year. It seems to me that LCD Soundsystem have a ton of artistic expression that has been bottled up too long. The back and forth surrounding the reunion is prologue to a busy 2016. I have no doubt we will be seeing the LCD Soundsystem name in big print on a Coachella announcement, soon. To me

Homeless Holiday Charity Event by Thee Oh Sees and Panache Booking

Danny Baraz December 11, 2015

Sometimes, we help those less fortunate without expecting anything in return and sometimes, we can help the needy and create memories we will never forget. This coming Wednesday the 16th and Thursday the 17th, Panache Booking in conjunction with Thee Oh Sees are holding a Homeless Holiday Charity Event at The Teragram Ballroom. Proceeds from the Homeless Holiday Charity Event will benefit the L.A. Kitchen. L.A. Kitchen’s focus is reducing food waste and addressing unemployment and hunger, amongst other things. The event will be headlined by hardcore psych punks, Thee Oh Sees. Supporting acts include Fuzz Wand and DJ’s from Permanent Records. There is so much you can do to help this holiday season. This is just one. Janky Smooth will keep you posted on more ways to help the less fortunate.

Dinoczar New Single “Burnt Out” Off Impending Debut Album

Brent Smith December 11, 2015

If you don’t remember Dinoczar, the darkly-weird Bostonians from our review of The House of the Rising Fuzz—an anthemic east coast garage psych compilation in which their single “Cream” blew off our doors with speedfreak riffs, muddled jive, and rambling, headbanging solos—then you have another chance to pay closer attention. We’re pleased to share the news that Dinoczar’s debut LP Sick Wind is due out early next year, and that they’ve dropped its first single “Burnt Out.” This time around, it’s less in-your-face punk and more proto-stoner metal that’s been dominating the underground lately. That’s not to say Dinoczar are backing off or falling in line, not in the least. Even though the band is a lowly three-piece, the only thing minimal about them is the vocals. The holy trinity of guitar-bass-drum assaults with formidable savagery. But it also pings the sweet side of the spectrum, and slows down for moments of instrumental rumination before crashing back into its biting, awesomely unintelligible chorus. About 20 seconds before it ends, the song eerily bleeds out into some Lynchian distortion that gives an out-of-body effect—like dying—before an unseen, omnipresent listener cuts the track with the press of an analog STOP button. (Rough

David Bowie- Blackstar Video Blows the Internet’s Mind

Brent Smith November 23, 2015

Just as the free world is seemingly at its most bleak, Ascended Master and dabbler musician David Bowie sends earthlings a new transmission named Blackstar. Much to the elation of the Internet and as he’s always done, David Bowie puts to bed the notion that pop music is just some lowbrow fetish. It didn’t take long for the newly released video of the title track “★” (“Blackstar”) to go viral, with well over 1 million views in two days, setting off a slew of comment thread brushfires across the digiscape. “★” is an eerie space opera that trips from forlorn ancient astronauts deep in the cosmos to terrestrial-bound she-pagans with crucified scarecrows in their fields. Bowie’s familiar, hypnotic voice dips under and over a well-produced hopscotch of glam pop and doom jazz, framed with vivid cinematography from director Johan Renck and packed with enough esoteric symbolism to make Alex Jones’ head explode. With iconic peers like Bob Dylan and Tom Waits still putting out new work and damning retirement, we shouldn’t be surprised to still be hearing from the man who brought us “Let’s Dance” (probably one of the most sampled pop songs out there). There’s just something way more

Ty Segall Announces New Album “Emotional Mugger”

Danny Baraz November 11, 2015

Ty Segall and his creative output are unstoppable forces in independent music. Today, Ty Segall and his team have announced the forthcoming release of his 13th LP called “Emotional Mugger”, with a release date of January 22nd on Drag City Records. Emotional Mugger Track Listing: 01. Squealer 02. Californian Hills 03. Emotional Mugger/Leopard Priestess 04. Breakfast Eggs 05. Diversion 06. Baby Big Man (I Want A Mommy) 07. Mandy Cream 08. Candy Sam 09. Squealer Two 10. W.U.O.T.W.S. 11. The Magazine Pre-order Emotional Mugger: Via Drag City – http://www.dragcity.com/products/emotional-mugger via iTunes – https://itunes.apple.com/album/id1057677898 via Amazon – http://amzn.to/1PCmNw3 Also announced, an extensive, North American tour that stretches from January 13th through April 29 of 2016, so far. Ty Segall- Emotional Mugger Tour Dates: Wed. Jan. 13 – Solano Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern * Fri. Jan. 15 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom Sat. Jan. 16 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom * Mon. Jan. 18 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore * Tue. Jan. 19 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore Thu. Jan. 21 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre * Fri. Jan. 22 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre * Sat. Jan. 23 –

Steve Mackay of the Stooges Has Died at Age 66

Brent Smith October 12, 2015

Steve Mackay, saxophone player most known for his work with Iggy Pop and the Stooges, passed away yesterday, Oct 11th 2015 at age 66 in Daly City, California after battling complications from sepsis. Regarded as one of the most influential jazz rockers in last four decades, his involvement in the Stooges’ second album Fun House, and the ensuing collaborations he had with acts like Carnal Kitchen, Violent Femmes, Snakefinger, Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen, Smegma Zu, Andre Williams and others established him as an originator in the racy ways of rock ‘n roll sax—a tactic strongly utilized in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s by the No Wave bands of New York. During the 90s, a lot of the old rockers were either dead or staring down the barrel of middle-age burnout, and Steve Mackay’s profile wasn’t so hot. In fact, the music world thought him for dead. While Mackay took up residence in the Bay Area and worked as an electrician, authorities like MTV and Rolling Stone were writing on the Stooges biography pages that the sax player had died in the 1970s. A false story unknown in origin, but initially reported on by music journalist Nick

Jankiest Shows and Tickets for the weekend of 10/9-10/11

Janky Smooth Central Command October 9, 2015

There are so many incredible shows taking place this weekend that we thought we’d give you a list of Janky Smooth approved shows to help party to the appropriate soundtrack this weekend. From festivals to small club shows to can’t miss headliners, this list is merely a guide to help you find the stuff you like. Friday October 9th Culture Collide Festival at Taix and Echo/Echoplex- Tickets The Dickies, Black Tibetans and Kim and the Created at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach- Tickets Loaf, French Vanilla, Jew Cocks and Vertighost at The Church of Fun- Tickets Mild High Club, The Memories, Charmaine’s Names and Cat 500 at HM157 (no presale tickets) Moaning, Free Music, Michael Vidal, Cruelty Code at The Smell (no presale tickets) Saturday October 10th Culture Collide Festival at Taix, Echo Park Methodist Church, Lot 1 Cafe and Echo/Echoplex- Tickets It’s Not Dead Fest w/ Bad Religion, Descendents, NOFX, Fishbone and MANY others at San Manuel Indian Amphitheater- Tickets Neil Young at Santa Barbara Bowl- Tickets Terminal A, Lunch, Ghost Noise, Diesel Dudes, Band Aparte at Second Wave Festival Supreme Music and Comedy Festival w/ Die Antwoord, Kids in the Hall and MANY more at The Shrine Auditorium-

Death Valley Girls at Lolipalooza shot by Taylor Wong

Death Valley Girls Drop New Limited 7″-Stream Death Valley Boogie

Brent Smith October 7, 2015

Death Valley Girls has something witchy for us this week. With what may be their most meta track yet, a new 7” is being released featuring the new single, “Death Valley Boogie”. From French label April 77, and distributed by Cobraside here in L.A., a limited press of 20 records was made, 15 of which will go on Death Valley Girls bandcamp store starting Wednesday, October 6th at 7:30. The remaining 5 will be sold during Sunday night’s show at Echoplex. Not ten seconds into “Death Valley Boogie” and it’s easy to see how it stands on its own. The intro riff is the real refrain of the song, like a hook right out of Poison Ivy’s tackle box. The distorted hums and drums crescendo into dystopic dance rock with tambourine beats. Bonnie Wandgarden’s voice parallels the likes of Karen O. and Kathleen Hanna, but sets itself apart as a disembodied echo of a Post-Summer of Love world, when vice and grimy glam ruled the streets of Hollywood, and Dr. Gonzo was off eating acid in Vegas sputtering diatribes about the Death of the American Dream. Though playful on the surface, “Death Valley Boogie” digs deep into our eastern desert valleys,

Run The Jewels Release Meow The Jewels. Cat Ladies Rejoice

Danny Baraz September 25, 2015

You know when you’re really high and you have this “great idea” that seems so genius that the world may never be the same? The next day, you open the Notes section of your phone that you used to remind you of said idea and you just stare at it and laugh and say to yourself, “What the fuck was I thinking?”. Enter Meow The Jewels, RTJ’s remix of Run the Jewels 2 made up entirely of cat sounds and samples. One fan. One dab. One kickstarter goal of $45k and 2,828 donations later and the total donations for the project have peaked at over $65k. The end is surely nigh. I’m sure El-P and Killer Mike never thought with all the need for altruism in this fucked up world, that people would come together and organize to insure this very important album get made. I take comfort in the fact that all the limited edition vinyl that is sold will go to various charity’s benefiting those who have been victims of police brutality. El-P took to Twitter “we did it for you, Mike Brown and Eric garner.” You can download the album here Meow The Jewels: 01 Meowpurrdy [ft. Lil Bub,

Sneak Peak of Them Howling Bones New Video: Say Goodbye

Danny Baraz September 25, 2015

Them Howling Bones are working on a new EP called ‘Dolores’ and we are proud to give you a preview of the first single and video called ‘Say Goodbye’. Say Goodbye has that vintage rockabilly vibe on vocals with a straightforward, honest rock and fucking roll arrangement. Them Howling Bones have refined the sound they have been working on the past few years that is vocally, highly reminiscent of artists on Sun Records– It’s like Memphis in Eastern Los Angeles. The throwback vibe continues with a tribute to Wolfman Jack all throughout the video. If Say Goodbye is any indication of what we can expect on Dolores then we are all in for a pretty big treat when it drops. Them Howling Bones are ever a DIY outfit. If you are in Los Angeles, look out for these banners and know that Them Bones are throwin’ down. Dudes are shoving off on national tour starting Sunday in Arizona and stretching from the east coast, mid west and back again. We will continue to give you Them Howling Bones updates, premiers and previews as new shit becomes available because we love this band! Date Venue Location Tickets Sep 28 Rouge

PEARS New 7″: Letters to Memaw

Brent Smith September 17, 2015

Heads up, hardcore fans! If you dug the PEARS debut album Go To Prison, re-released by Fat Wreck Chords, you needn’t wait until 2016 for a taste of their follow-up. The 7” Letters To Memaw has your name written all over it, and is being released tomorrow, Sept. 18! Wrought from the old, macabre streets of New Orleans, the newbie thrashers made a big enough splash to catch the still-bloodshot eyes of the Fat Wreck 90s punk syndicate, which championed the likes of Propaghandi, Anti-Flag, Face To Face, and others. The 7” features songs “Snowflake” and “Anhedonia” that oscillate playfully from rabid screaming to headbanging riffs to pop-punk sentimentality, and then back around again, proving PEARS is carrying on the greasy Fat torch just fine. Singer Zach Quinn had this to say about it: “These are two songs from a quick session in April that subsequently got re recorded for the next full length. They were the first two written for our follow up, Snowflake is loosely about struggling to identify one’s own power, and Anhedonia is loosely about a joyless life versus oblivion.” They’re currently on the road with partners-in-crime Teenage Bottlerocket, and then Lagwagon later on in the