
Tag: featured

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Squid at Moroccan Lounge on 11/17
Brighton, England’s Squid seems to have exploded onto the scene and made a huge impact on Los Angeles with two sold out shows at the Moroccan Lounge and an upcoming appearance at Substance fest. Because Jankysmooth has their finger on the pulse, we know exactly how bad you want these tickets. So we’re giving away a pair for the show on the 17th. This band is going to go places, they already have; I mean listen to their 2021 album Bright Green Field. It’s so fresh and explosive. People call this a post punk band but they’re something larger to me, something new altogether. THIS SHOW IS SOLD OUT or ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO SQUID NOVEMBER 17TH AT MOROCCAN LOUNGE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK SQUID Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 16TH AT 1PM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

Heavy on the Cool: Dry Cleaning at Teragram Ballroom
Raybans, iced coffee, and cigarettes high atop Manhattan on a gloomy day spent people watching on a fire escape. A Jim Jarmusch movie plays on mute in the living room while the last Dry Cleaning vinyl, New Long Leg, spins in your bedroom. You jot down lines of poetry that don’t rhyme or make sense but you feel inspired and accomplished behind your shades and thin, unmovable lips. This scene, which I just imagined, plays out in black and white, an experimental piece of imagination meant for celluloid and inspired by the sounds of Dry Cleaning, a band with the New York spirit of No Wave and South London post punk heart. You hear shades of Television, Joy Division, Portishead, Talking Heads, The Modern Lovers, Lydia Lunch, Iggy Pop’s more recent stuff, Sleaford Mods, and Kim Gordon. related content: Chicano Batman Bring A Crumb Home To The Shrine Dry Cleaning is all the rage. Before I committed to covering the show, a friend asked if I was going to see that band everyone likes right now at Teragram. When I asked which band he was referring to, his reply was simply “Dirty Laundry”. When I saw the hype around Dry

Chicano Batman Bring a Crumb Home to the Shrine
Chicano Batman must’ve hit such an intense crescendo on their current tour when they reached the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Nov 10th to play night 1 of 2 sold out dates for their proud, gushing home town crowd. I have to be honest, after opening band Crumb finished their set, I thought I was going to make the word count in this review tilt toward the psych-rock outfit from New York but silly rabbit, Chicano Batman reign supreme in L.A. related content: Texis Or Treats: Sleigh Bells At Teragram Ballroom It was a case of one of the best bands in indie music opening for one of the best bands in indie music. A classic gorge fest of immaculate songwriting meets prodigious musicianship and the line to get through security was still around the block by the time Los Retros took the stage. I wasn’t there to see it for myself but I heard Mauri Tapia of Los Retros broke a guitar string and with no back up, he made the best of it with his wurlitzer tone on keys and classic retro rock croons-manship. I was inside and well placed while the changeover crew set Crumb

Photo Recap: Gipsy Kings at City National Grove of Anaheim
Their story begins in the south of France, where a family of Gitanos, Spanish Romani, formed a band that sang Spanish songs with French dialects to create some of the most vibrant and romantic music in modern history. Gipsy Kings and Nicolas Reyes are an institution, bigger than the genres they make music in. No matter if you’re American, European, Asian, Latino, African, or anything else, you know the Gipsy Kings. The story of The Gipsy Kings is one of immigration and destiny that so many people in Southern California can connect with and be inspired by. It was an honor to get the chance to do a giveaway and recap of their show. Their concert at City National Grove of Anaheim was an unforgettable evening filled with cheer and intimacy that crossed every barrier between peoples present. Opening for the Gipsy Kings was the angelic Mikaela Davis on her harp. Together these two artists crafted the soul of a night of music that will keep Anaheim dancing for a long time to come. Gipsy Kings Mikaela Davis

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Satsang at Moroccan Lounge
Creating music that sounds like the perfect blend of American Western folk and Far Eastern philosophy, Satsang imbue their down home maladies with tranquility and enlightenment inspired by Hindu and Buddhist spirituality. Light hearted but incredibly deep, their songs will leave a lasting mark on you. That’s why we’re giving away two tickets to their upcoming show at Moroccan Lounge. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE or ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO SATSANG NOVEMBER 13TH AT MOROCCAN LOUNGE Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK SATSANG Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 12TH AT 1PM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

Photo Recap: Khruangbin at the Greek Theatre
Photos by: Manuel Arredondo Khruangbin has been a topic of contention at Jankysmooth. Most contributors love them, some just don’t get it. Some just don’t know how to dance. Regardless of critical opinion, the band’s ticket sales and cultural impact speak for themselves. They sold out three nights at the Greek Theatre and are more or less the psychedelic rock scene’s single top attraction at this time. They’re leading the charge in music of a movement that hasn’t even been fully defined yet. Classifying their sound makes most critics come up with plenty of nebulous terms when a colloquialism like jive will suffice. Joining the power trio on this night of their sell out spree at the Greek was Japanese psych heroes Kikagaku Moyo. Check out these incredible photos from the show: Khruanbin Kikagaku Moyo

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Nothing Fest III at Garden Amp
Young love is in the air anytime Nothing Mag presents us with another installment of their annual Nothing Fest. They’ve had such acts as Banes World and Tijuana Panthers grace the stage of Garden Amp in previous years, but this time, they’re going all out with Goth Babe, WHOKILLEDXIX, The Grinns and so many more performing on three different stages. If you haven’t been yet, Garden Amp is one of the best venues in all Southern California. It’s outdoor, it has seating, plenty of room in the pit, a big stage, a great sound system and they book legit underground bands. Nothing Fest is the venue’s biggest show of the year. They go all out for Orange County’s youth. We are giving away two tickets to the festival so you can rage with all your friends in OC. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE or ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO NOTHING FEST III NOVEMBER 13TH AT GARDEN AMP Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK NOTHING FEST III Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 12TH

Photo Recap: Idles at the Fonda Theatre
Every few years, there seems to be new, incoming waves and incarnations of what American’s call The UK Invasion. I don’t think any invasion in military history has lasted this long. It’s a part of American musical life, this cycle of American music scenes being refined by British artists, meanwhile the scene dies down in America until those British Artists tour the states and completely take over. Idles is the latest sensation to lead the pack of artists that have breathed new life into the American punk scene, bringing garage influence to bigger stages than most American bands have in years. The band sold out three nights at the Fonda, filling the venue with their power punk sound, turning shows into massive, Dioynisian shindigs. Opening for the band was Gustaf, a Brooklyn band with lethal doses of swagger and cool, balancing art rock, no wave, punk, and funk. Idles Gustaf

Dressed to Transgress: Sex Cells Halloween at the Globe
I don’t think theres ever been a Sex Cells that wasn’t just Halloween on the wrong weekend. Costumes, debauchery, candy, scantily-clad ladies and sexually deviant dudes are ingrained in the party’s DNA. The Halloween edition of this masquerade was estimated to be Sex Cell’s strangest, most insane installment. When halloween falls on a Sunday, you get at least three days to dress up differently. Since I was already Ace Frehley on Saturday, I got into the Gonzo spirit by cobbling together a Hunter S. Thompson getup and going to Sex Cells to score some synthesized liquid treats. As I expected, the kinds of creeps that came out to the Globe by 10pm after Lethal Amounts hosted night 2 of Danzig does Elvis, were all dressed to trangress. related content: Technically, We’ve Always Been Sick: Sex Cells Returns To The Globe Theatre As we danced and pogo’d with Pogo the killer Clown, we were given the night’s greatest treat, sweeter than candy corn and dressed as red as a Hot Tamale, Thee Teenage Werewolves took the stage busting out the classic Cramps tune– “Human Fly”. This Cramps cover band is so good, they very well could be the most talented tribute

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Gipsy Kings at City National Grove of Anaheim
It’s an honor to do any kind of marketing on behalf of one of music’s most important and endearing legacies, that of the Reyes family band known as The Gipsy Kings. Their story is almost as profound and beautiful and lasting as their music and they’ll be bringing their show to City National Grove of Anaheim on the 7th of November. We have two tickets to giveaway to someone with immeasurable luck who will get to go and see Nicolas Reyes and the band perform all their booty shaking classics. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE Or ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO GIPSY KINGS NOVEMBER 7TH AT CITY NATIONAL GROVE OF ANAHEIM Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK GIPSY KINGS Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 6TH AT 1PM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

Texis or Treats: Sleigh Bells at Teragram Ballroom
Sleigh Bells guitarist and arranger in chief, Derek E. Miller has come a long way from Poison the Well to meeting Alexis Krauss while waiting on her at a restaurant- and an even longer way from Treats to Texis. A wave of nostalgia came over me as Krauss referenced playing El Rey in 2011, because it was one of the shows that got me back into going to shows. Of course, at El Rey, it was just Miller, Krause, some hardware and a literal wall of Marshall cabinets that stretched from the floor of the stage to the rafters. On Thursday, Oct 21st at The Teragram Ballroom, Miller ditched the wall of cabinets but his affinity for tube amps remained in the form of a one piece Marshall. There was plenty of room for Krauss and Miller to add a live drummer, Chris Maggio and synth/ backup singer, Kate Steinberg. My feelings on the changes were mixed, along with the arrival of new album, Texis but before I get into all that, it is crucial for me to give opening band, Kills Birds a proper spot in this review- because they are a revelation. related content: This Ain’t No Reset,

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Tokyo Police Club at Teragram Ballroom
It’s time Janky Smooth embraces more indie music. And not just indie music but Canadian indie music. That’s why we’re throwing a giveaway to see Tokyo Police Club the best Canadian Indie band around. The band is celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their album Champ, an album that features all the highs and lows that comes with eternal youth. So come out and celebrate, bring a date or a friend–someone that needs a little escape. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE Or ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO TOKYO POLICE CLUB NOVEMBER 6TH AT TERAGRAM BALLROOM Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2 – Tag a Friend in the comment section of our INSTAGRAM or FACEBOOK TOKYO POLICE CLUB Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON NOVEMBER 5TH AT 1PM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION