Tag: featured

Career Suicide

Lets go do Some Crimes!: Career Suicide at Five Star Bar

The most important ingredient in a good hardcore punk band is live energy. There has to be something special about how the band stirs up a raw, chaotic, spontaneous feeling in the venue that makes every punk one inch away from committing a crime, from vandalism to violence, whatever your fix. Only a couple bands truly and organically summon this feeling in all its purity, and one of them is certainly Toronto’s Career Suicide. I feel like if they were an American band, they would be considered canon hardcore punk. I certainly feel that way. If Black Flag, Circle Jerks, FEAR, Bad Brains, and Minor Threat were canon hardcore bands of the 80s; Career Suicide, Trash Talk, and Ceremony are today’s. Career Suicide often feels like a modern Circle Jerks. related content: For The Children 2017 At The Echoplex: Hardcore Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Throughout the night, Eighty-Four booking treated us to some of Los Angeles’ most relentless punk bands. As far as I’m concerned, I think this is the best booking company in town, not just because of the range of bands they bring to town, all of which broaden punk horizons, but because they seem to

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Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists to Watch in 2020

We have reached the end of the decade and to usher in this new epoch, we have chosen 25 artists that can be your guiding light through the darkness and confusion. We might reach catastrophe but with this soundtrack, we can at least ease your nerves to make the trip a little more enjoyable. We’ve picked something for everyone, from the dark to the light, from the heavy to the soft, the happy to the sad, and every sound and emotion in between. Some artists are based in LA, some are international, but all 25 artists should be watched closely because they will make a mark on 2020. related content: Janky Smooth Top 25 Artists To Watch In 2019 Acrylics Ever since we first covered their set at Home Sick, we’ve had high hopes for Nor-Cal hardcore outfit, Acrylics. They might have the most vigor of any young band out there. The music exhibits much more nuance than typical hardcore though, with a garage sensibility beneath the steamrolling core. This is made clear on their 2019 release Sinking In. The music is just as off-balance, thrilling, and a roller coaster on record as it is live.  Acrylics is underground and

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Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

2019 was a year full of fresh faces releasing undeniable breakout albums and veterans making their returns to grace. Even though it may seem like singles are the logical way to release music in 2019, it would turn out that people want full and cohesive artistic statements with emotional twists and turns. Don’t believe the hype, all the devices we’ve surrounded ourselves with and all the information flooding our minds, we’re still human, the nature of our hearts has not changed much. Artists like Lingua Ignota with Caligula and FKA Twigs with Magdelene bore their souls onto record and the reception reciprocated their love and passion because this was their year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2j4vJWLz2E As much as our current culture emphasizes the importance of youth and the irrelevance of the old, a few veterans showed they had so much more fuel left in the tank. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds came back with a vengeance with Ghosteen, a return to the mournfulness that made him a goth God in the first place. Leonard Cohen released Thanks For The Dance posthumously, haunting us from the grave as if he can’t rest until we’ve really, truly learned everything we can form the old poet.

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Janky Smooth Top 10 SHOWS of 2019 Rated by Contributors

This decade saw numerous paradigm shifts that laid the groundwork for a future where people basically become some form of android. That’s nothing to fear, though…we’re still safe….Many predict we’re seeing the fall of the American empire or some kind of apocalypse…hopefully they only mean in the sense that we’re entering a new chapter in humanity’s being….Still, no sweat, right?…We can handle this….In 2019 Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” become the most successful song of all time….Code red! Abandon ship! Get your kicks in before the whole shit house goes down in flames! related content: Janky Smooth Top 10 Shows of 2018 Rated by Contributors Every genre of music saw scene defining moments but I guess that ought to happen every year. What was special about 2019 though, was all the reunions that went down. It’s as if when a band decides to get back together, Los Angeles is the first place they think to play just so all their artist friends can attend the show. A few examples of such reunions were: Bauhaus at the Hollywood Palladium, Heart to Heart at Sound and Fury, Stereolab at Desert Daze, The Locust at Desert Daze, Limp Bizkit at the Troubadour

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HORSE the band

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Horse the Band at the Regent

Nintendo-core never sounded so sweet as when coming out the holes and fingers of one, Horse The Band. I can’t sing the praises of these fellows enough. I truly think they’re brilliant. I’ve thought so ever since I saw them get boo’d off stage opening for Dragonforce all those years ago. Who would have thought it would be H The B that would go down in history as a band so influential and beloved by so many people. We’re all going to have a great ol’ time at the Regent and I want you to be there with me. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO HORSE THE BAND DECEMBER 26TH AT THE REGENT 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, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK George Clanton Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON DECEMBER 24TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION  

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La Dispute

The Evolution of the Trust Fall: La Dispute at the Belasco

When I saw the salt lamps being put on stage I thought I had made a mistake. Post-hardcore like At The Drive-In I was told. Latin Danzig this was not. This was hardcore with Michigan undertones. There’s a fight club aspect to the group. They look like they work in your office, the ones that guard you while you sleep, don’t fuck with them. One brought a tambourine to a hardcore show, another person in the back who’s job it is to clap into a microphone. The bass player looks like he’s going to start playing “China Cat Sunflower”. Los Angeles Latinos love La Dispute, I was like is it Sound And Fury already? I’m envious of the passion a person who vibes with hardcore can produce. There was a pit for someone playing a tambourine. The only other place that occurs is at state fairs. So how could this be, I told a handful of people I was going so I could flex a little and people who I told were like “that’s cool” and “you listen to La Dispute” related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 “Will I still go to heaven if I commit suicide?” Asks

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She Past Away

Photo Recap: She Past Away at 1720

Turkish darkwave duo, She Past Away returned to Los Angeles for their 2nd performance ever. Hosted by 1720, they sold out the place just like they did last time, filling the venue with the dark, sometimes somber, sometimes explosive tones of Middle-Eastern inspired electro-goth. The phenomenon of this band is a testament to the open mind and heart the underground has for music, no matter what shade of black that heart is. Opening for the band was Twin Tribes. Photos by: Abraham Preciado She Past Away   Twin Tribes

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Sloppy Jane

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Sloppy Jane at the Bootleg Theatre

Sloppy Jane returns to The Bootleg for one last LA gig before the year closes out and we’re giving away a pair of tickets to the show. This is your chance to see the awe-inspiring and outside the box, free form, punk rock insanity of Haley Dahl’s mind splattered all over the stage in blue. ENTER TO WIN TWO TICKETS TO SLOPPY JANE DECEMBER 21ST AT THE BOOTLEG THEATER 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, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Sloppy Jane Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON DECEMBER 19TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

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Career Suicide

Take This: Win Two Tickets to Career Suicide at Five Star Bar

Eighty-Four Booking has tapped the punk rock underground for yet another stellar show, bringing the great white North’s hardcore punk terror, Career Suicide, to Five Star Bar. Seeing as they’re one of our favorite live bands, we had to do a giveaway. ENTER TO WIN TWO TICKETS TO CAREER SUICIDE DECEMBER 20TH AT FIVE STAR BAR 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, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Career Suicide Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON DECEMBER 16TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Day 1 of Decibel Magazines Metal and Beer Fest

Decibel Magazine’s Metal and Beer Fest returns this year with a hostile takeover of the Observatory and we’re giving away two tickets to the first day. Get sloshed while seeing death metal originators Possessed. See if your brain can handle the hardcore onslaught of Nails. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO DAY 1 OF DECIBEL MAGAZINE METAL & BEER FEST DECEMBER 13th AT THE OBSERVATORY 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, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Metal and Beer Fest Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON DECEMBER 11TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION

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Take This: Win Two Tickets to Battles at Lodge Room

Experimental rock duo Battles are returning to Los Angeles to warp the Lodge Room into a frenzy. Math rock never sounds as crazy as when these New Yorkers get on a stage. We’re giving away two tickets to the show so you can be blown the fuck away.   YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR: ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO BATTLES DECEMBER 4TH AT THE LODGE ROOM 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, TWITTER, or FACEBOOK Battles Ticket Giveaway Post WINNER WILL BE SELECTED ON DECEMBER 3RD AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION  

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