Tag: featured
Color Me Punk: Rubella Ballet Plays First L.A. Show Since 1985 at Echoplex
Rob Shepyer
September 20, 2018
Rubella Ballet comes from a time when there weren’t as many boxes for you to cram bands into. There was punk, metal, and a few subgenres in between. They were associated with the anarcho movement, namely Crass, in England in the late 70’s and 80’s but musically, their albums show more diversity than any label could commit them to. Their songs and look represented the essence of anarchy. Rebellion, even against itself. When everyone wore black, they wore Day-Glo. When everyone played fast, short songs, they experimented with slower rhythms and more nuanced arrangements. Singer Zilla Minx and guitarist Sid Ation still know how to get weird. For all these young kids born after Rubella Ballet’s heyday, this was a show unlike anything they had ever seen. Rubella Ballet’s latest album, Danger of Death, brought them back to Los Angeles to play Part Time Punks at the Echoplex for the first time since 1985. Along with a few death rock, anarcho, and post punk bands, their combined effort made for a very special night of music. related content: Gene Loves Jezebel Play Immigrant In Its Entirety At Part Time Punks Gig Spain’s Fatamorgana was the first to take the stage. Made
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets To Hercules and Love Affair at El Rey
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 20, 2018
I can smell a good party and Lethal Amounts always carries the scent. This occasion though is special because Hercules and Love Affair is performing. As a life-long leather bar DJ, Andy Butler knows exactly how to make any dance floor turn up. As a recording artist, he took dance music to new heights whether by putting electronic beats behind the vocals of Anohni or melding disco and techno. This cat has raised the entire game. Then with Lethal Amounts’ beautiful freak show behind the band, this will be an all-out rager to be remembered. Janky Smooth is proud to offer you a chance to party with Hercules and Love Affair for free by offering two tickets to the lucky winner of this contest. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR SEPTEMBER 26TH AT EL REY THEATRE 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 Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Hercules and Love Affair Giveaway Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Nick Urata of DeVotchka Interview: Man on the Street
Robert Cohen
September 19, 2018
DeVotchka are hot off the heels of finishing their newest album This Night Falls Forever and touring. This interview with the band’s leader Nick Urata covers everything from film scores to World War 2. RC: At this stage in your career, you and the band have had several successful albums, created or have contributed to several fantastic film soundtracks, and have gained a high levels of regard within both indie and mainstream circles. Despite all of this though, you haven’t been put under the magnifying glass and can still live a more or less normal life doing what you love. In short, have you reached the happy medium of fame? And if so, is it as fulfilling as you hoped it would be? NU: Yes, I feel lucky in this regard. We’ve come to realize that the actual work, is the only thing that is fulfilling. The thrill of fanning a little spark of an idea into a giant fire is what really gets you out of bed. When you’re practicing in your room as a kid you want nothing more than to be famous, but the reality is quite complicated. In my case, I learned how to write from a
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GØGGS a-go-go at the Teragram Ballroom
Jonathan Reyes
September 19, 2018
Is it C.F.M or Ty Segall, the Muggers, Freedom Band, Parliament? I don’t even think they know half the time. I think they show up to a venue, in this case it was The Teragram Ballroom and whoever gets the mic first decides which band is performing that night. related content: New Album Review: GØGGS is Damn Good Gravy On The Ty Segall Catalog There is one way to tell and that’s when Chris Shaw saunters over with that thousand yard stare. You know right away you’ve got GØGGS. Which is just enough time to make your peace with your teeth because the energy he infects the crowd with is fucking bonkers. It’s not often that you get a band that can be so intense but maintain the musicality they obviously work so hard on. They could easily just do the one band and call it a day. The branches of the tree of creativity that they come from stick out in so many unique ways. But they don’t let complacency tempt them into mediocrity and fans respond with pits that don’t neutralize after the first song, they keep their phones away because how could a cellphone ever capture what
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Gary Numan Interview: Art in the Age of Savages
Audrey Kemp
September 18, 2018
I was fortunate enough to submit the probing questions of past, present and current audiophiles to synthesizer pioneer Mr. Gary Numan by means of cyberspace. We discussed his 18th studio album Savage, the current global state of affairs and the unforeseeable future. related content: Millennial Matchmaking: Gary Numan & Ugly God At The Observatory AK: These days, synthesizers are as common as a guitars in a song. Being a pioneer of the computerized world, would you care to share your thoughts on the proliferation of synthesized music? GN: I think it adds a level of sonic interest to music to see them widely used. However, it would be a mistake to think that synthesizers are all there is to electronic music. On my albums synths account for some of the sounds but not all of them by any means. Much of it comes from recording all manner of noises from the environment and then manipulating them to make them work musically. It’s not really about synths, it’s about sound, noise, whatever you can find that makes an interesting addition to a song. AK: Tubeway Army was one of the first bands of your time to break away from what was
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James Chance Interview: A New York Original
Audrey Kemp
September 17, 2018
Following the Contortions’ stirring performance at Zebulon in Los Angeles Friday night, I had the honor to sit down with one of the most influential pioneers in experimental music: a saxophonist, keyboard player, songwriter and singer from New York City, Mr. James Chance. People may affiliate his music with the 1979 No New York compilation and other no wave acts, but Mr. Chance would vehemently protest and describe himself as an original before any other label. AK: You’ve had many different projects: The Contortions, The Flaming Demonics, James White and the Blacks and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. What compelled you to revisit the Contortions in recent years, versus the others? JC: I took a break from the music business in the early ‘90s for a few years because there was just nothing happening. I got sick of the business aspect of it. When I came back, Henry Rollins started this reissue label and reissued all of this stuff from 1980, which made me decide which name I wanted to use and I just decided. I’ve been using James White and the Blacks throughout the 80s, so I decided to go back to the Contortions and I’ve been using that for 20 years,
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The Sax Maniac Cometh: James Chance and the Contortions at Zebulon
Rob Shepyer
September 17, 2018
Zebulon was the stage of choice for James Chance’s return to Los Angeles since his monumental last appearance at the Echoplex, his first show here in 34 years. Something about James is a magnet for young Los Angeles beats, punks, eccentrics, hipsters, and anyone down with it. So, for two nights, James took the Zebulon by storm, regaling us with tunes as diverse in age as the audience. related content: James Chance and the Contortions Play First Show In L.A. Since 1984 I try to make it out to any James Chance or No Wave performance in the area because unlike so many scenes that have come and gone, this small fixture of New York 70’s culture never lost its intrigue or cool. Combining nihilism, stream of consciousness poetry, black and white cinema, all into one off-kilter, jarring jazz-punk style, No Wave is the ultimate stand against musical orthodoxy. Anything goes because James says so, that was the mantra for this night of music. Traps PS opened up with some cool post punk vibes that wrung the audience out with plenty of dancing and sweaty rhythm. Reminding me of such greats as Gang of Four, Traps PS features perhaps Los
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Prophets of Doom: Yob and Acid King at Teragram
Rob Shepyer
September 14, 2018
In times of social decay, metalheads thirst for one specific strain of heavy music to level their peeking frustrations and fears simply by crushing them equal to all other feelings. Call it masochistic but with all the suffering in the world, being enveloped by riffs so heavy that your teeth tremble in your gums, actually treats the pain. So, give us heavy, crushing guitars. Give us slow riffs that stretch longer than life lines. Give us drums that crash like thunder in storms too thick to see through. Give us doom, impending, loud, and full of sorrow. Doom is the sonic version of the abyss we stare into and see our reflections in. No American doom band today is quite as powerful live as Yob. Not since Saint Vitus has this subgenre seen such soul within it. I take plenty of bands into account when I make this bold verdict and if you disagree then leave me with my opinions to a solitary death and purple satin upholstered casket. related content: Pallbearer & Gatecreeper Stop At Echoplex Reminds Us- Guitar Solos Matter Doom lyrics in reviews aside, Church of the 8th Day booked another monstrous show with Yob, Acid Bath,
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Neil Fallon of Clutch Interview: Dog Ears in the Book of Bad Decisions
Rob Shepyer
September 13, 2018
Having just released their 12th studio album with Book of Bad Decisions, Clutch is back on the road to bring their hard rock boogie to a city near you. I spoke to Neil Fallon from the band to get his take on the record and ask him a few questions about the current state of the union. Rob: The fifth track on the new album Book of Bad Decisions is “In Walks Barbarella”. Can you comment on what specifically about that movie inspired you to write a song about it? What other films have inspired your music in the past? Do you consider yourself a movie buff? Neil: I would consider myself a movie buff. That song I wrote as part 3 after “X-Ray Visions” and “Firebirds”. To me one of the most iconic female sci-fi figures is Barbarella. Yeah, it’s a campy movie but growing up in the 70’s and 80’s reading Heavy Metal magazine, that’s sort of a preoccupation of mine that I’ve carried on into later-life. Rob: You mention “Weaponized funk” in the song and I was wondering with George Clinton retiring from touring this year and because I’ve seen you wearing Parliament Funkadelic shirts, how has
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Featured Song: Luke Top “I May Never Leave”
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 11, 2018
Serving up the dreamiest surf maladies you’ve ever heard, Luke Top has a new track to serenade us with. Balancing sad lyrics and a cool-cat vocal cadence, “I May Never Leave” is perfect for crying in a dark bars, frolicing on the beach, or film scores. As a member of Fool’s Gold, Luke was able to meld styles such as pop, African, and Middle Eastern music to create a sound that was both cinematic and low key. He’s now taken this same approach to blend surf rock with a troubadour folk feel that harkens greats like Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave. “I May Never Leave” is the first single of Luke’s upcoming EP “The Dumb Show” set to be released October 19th.
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Parkway Drive at the Hollywood Palladium
Janky Smooth Central Command
September 11, 2018
Australia has had its fair share of incredible rock bands. AC/DC, INXS, Royal Headache, to name a few. Perhaps the most celebrated band to come from the isolated continent since AC/DC though, is Parkway Drive. Considered to be the kings of contemporary metalcore, few bands are able to deal such a heavy, clean sound with just as many brutal breakdowns as choruses you can sing to. Parkway Drive is playing the Hollywood Palladium on September 23rd for their Reverence North American tour and they are bringing a slew of great bands to play with them. August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada could draw decent numbers headlining the Palladium themselves, but with all three on one lineup, we feel lucky to be able to offer this giveaway. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO PARKWAY DRIVE SEPTEMBER 23RD AT THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM 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 Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Parkway Drive Giveaway Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON TUEDAY SEPTEMBER 18TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Sleepy Bangers/Hard Lullabies: The Book of Love at Teragram
Rob Shepyer
September 10, 2018
Over the last few years, The Book of Love has been playing shows to celebrate their three decades long career. Los Angeles, as a city that means so much to their career, was the one city that was missing from their tour schedule until Friday night’s show at the Teragram ballroom presented by Lethal Amounts. related content: We All Scored At Lethal Amounts’ Pure Trash With Sylvain Sylvain Philadelphia Synth-pop duo, The Book of Love is made up of nightingale siren Susan Ottaviano and Electro-maestro Ted Ottaviano. What’s amazing about the group is their musical formula of taking synth lullabies and turning them into hard, dance floor bangers. This was “dream pop” before pop knew how to dream. The destined-duo are unrelated but their families trace back to the same Italian village. From start to finish, the crowd of 80’s kids was bopping and dancing madly to the music. People were making out like mad during the set. The band even seemed to have their own gaggle of groupies. The audience was in step for the whole show, eating out of Susan’s palm as her heavenly, serene voice swept over them. Songs that resonated hardest with the audience were “Alice
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