Tag: featured
Double Review Comin’ at You: Suicideyear at Zebulon and Pope at Bootleg
Aria Silva-Espinosa
August 9, 2018
Summer is always the best time for live music, no matter where you live. Of course, Los Angeles is a premium stop for touring artists and even in the sweltering July heat, your favorite out-of-state artists will somehow find a way into your own backyard. Two shows in particular sparked my interest earlier this summer when I began filling out my calendar: Baton Rouge-based artist/producer Suicideyear at Zebulon followed by New Orleans indie sadboy outfit Pope at The Bootleg. Both artists embody two dramatically different genres of music but undoubtedly, this is a compare-and-contrast exercise in that both artists have become known as emotional music despite the vast divide between garage rock and electronic music. related content: Overcoming Fear With Fever Ray At The Palladium Suicideyear, the moniker of composer/producer/songwriter and occasional DJ James Prudhomme, has always been kind of a wildcard in live settings. When I was living in Louisiana, I once saw him play an entire festival set of early 2000’s pop and people were into it. I’ve also seen him play haunting industrial sets in dark rooms for a motionless audience. His independent projects are vastly under appreciated in comparison to the work he does in collaboration
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Surfbort Shake-Up Dave’s Shit Show At Resident
Rob Shepyer
August 8, 2018
Hot off the heels of a successful gallery opening and Zine release, iconic black and white rock photographer, Shit Show Dave, put on a Beach Goth after party at Resident that will not be soon forgotten. Shit… the show featured performances by Vaguess, Die Group, and Surfbort and the Resident was completely packed with rockers, groupies and all sorts of crazy fuckers, drinking, laughing and moshing hard. Costa Mesa’s Vaguess opened up the show with a sound that was undisputed garage punk and gets any human’s gears turning and heads banging. They provide an especially electric party feel that goes well with drinks, cigarettes, and whatever lubricant you need to get the job done. What job would that be you ask? Straight partying hard and punking out… ever heard of it!? Die Group were next, a band off Sex Tape records, they’re an OC and LA underground favorite. I had only heard good things about the band but none of their music until this point and having met the members, it was a pleasure to see them do what they do best. I was impressed and moved by their haunting and rhythmic garage rock. Their guitars are sonic and noisy, their
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Dreams Do Come True: Adult Swim Presents The Pillows At The Mayan
Janky Smooth Central Command
August 7, 2018
Our photographer, Dillon, had one of his dreams come true as Japanese rock icons, The Pillows, rolled through Los Angeles on a rare US tour presented by Adult Swim’s Toonami. If you don’t know The Pillows, then perhaps you know their great soundtrack work for Fooly Cooly (FLCL), one of Adult Swim’s most memorable anime programs. Also on the tour as support were Noodles and Cullen Omori. related content: Beast From The East: Sand At Toxic Toast Theatre Cullen Omori: Noodles: The Pillows: Photos by: Dillon Vaughn
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Huntington Beach Gets Weird: The Weirdos at Gallagher’s Pub
Audrey Kemp
August 1, 2018
The renowned Los Angeles punk band The Weirdos played Gallagher’s Pub in Huntington Beach on Saturday with the same tenacity as their first gig in the area 40 years ago at The Golden Bear.
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to The Growler’s Beach Goth
Janky Smooth Central Command
July 31, 2018
Beach Goth seems to reinvent itself every year and apart from becoming a traveling circus in 2018, they’ve moved to the old sacred festival burial grounds that is Los Angeles Historic Park and become a one-night affair. As always though, the lineup showcases more musical diversity than any festival you could catch in Los Angeles. From legendary old acts like Gwar, Youth of Today, and Doug E. Fresh; to legends of the future like Starcrawler, Bleached, and Kirin J. Calinan. As always, The Growlers are headlining and who knows how they’ll be dressed for the festivities. related content: Beach Goth 4: The Party Of The Year related content: The Growlers Lose The Beach Goth Battle But Won The War This Weekend Janky Smooth is giving you the chance to catch this gathering of oddities and rarities with yet another epic giveaway. Bring a friend, bring a costume, and bring the party. The festival takes place this weekend, Sunday, August 5th. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS FOR THE GROWLERS’ BEACH GOTH AUGUST 5TH AT LOS ANGELES HISTORIS PARK Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Share or RT this post
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Rebel Armz in the House: Immortal Technique at Marty’s on Newport
Jessica Moncrief
July 31, 2018
Last weekend Hip Hop lovers rejoiced at the chance to catch Immortal Technique spit knowledge two nights in a row along alongside legends Mr.Choc and Chino XL at the ever so intimate setting of Marty’s On Newport . For those of us trying to make sense of the direction new “rap” is heading, catching the lyrical geniuses that made us fall in love with the genre is an essential role in keeping us from being jaded beyond repair. I’d like to think that trap is a fad for the kids and when it fades into obscurity (like so many other fads have over the decades) acts such as Immortal Technique, Beat Junkies, Pharcyde, KRS One will be the ones left standing the test of time. Maybe that is a fallacy, but I still maintain hope for the future of our youth. related content: Summertime In The LBC: This Is Your Dad’s Hip Hop Line-Ups like this are the defibrillation to the heartbeat that is keeping the true voice of hip hop alive. Immortal Technique and Chino XL speak with spiritual intelligence on unity, human intuition, brotherhood, respect for women and community without compromising their hard as fuck stature that has commanded
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Beast from the East: Sand at Toxic Toast Theatre
Rob Shepyer
July 30, 2018
There are the kinds of music nerds that collect the vinyl albums of their favorite bands and then there are the kinds that sift through the Japanese imports section looking for new favorites. Japan has always been one of the best countries to make hardcore music whether it be bands like Stalin or Loyal to the Grave or my favorite of the lot: Sand. Conceptually, Sand represents an original idea that transcends hardcore in that it makes you rethink the use of language in music. They’re a Japanese band that sings in broken English. They could just sing in Japanese but that would miss the point they’re aiming for. A foreigner might not know your language well but chances are the way he expresses it will bring new meaning to the words. Such is the case when Sand performs songs like “Poser” with unforgettable lyrics like these: Your lyrics sound like an ethics class book. A model father. Sundays in church. A Bible reading pig. I’m gonna puke. DIE! All sounds phony. What a fucking scam. Your lyrics sound like some kid slamming down cheap beers, bragging like he’s been through hell. Then through the filter of a thick Japanese
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Anarchy’s Monarch: Scarlxrd at The Roxy
Rob Shepyer
July 27, 2018
Arcing over the pond in a desperate fire bombing attack on American soil, the UK’s Scarlxrd landed at the Roxy Theatre to light Los Angeles up for his first American show. With only him and his DJ performing, it was almost like a showcase for us foreigners, to see what secret weapon the trap game had up its sleeves. Or, to use an even more ridiculous comparison, it was as if Goldenvoice used a cheat code to select the secret character on the menu screen and we were facing Noob Saibot for the evening. related content: Sleaford Mods Hit The Echoplex On Last Date Of First Ever U.S. Tour For those confused by my ramblings, Scarlxrd is a young, trap artist who’s sound and image have captured young people’s imagination and has garnered seals of approval from mainstream American taste-making institutions such as Noisy and Goldenvoice. What differentiates him from other artists in the game though, is the undisputed aggression and anger in his music which most trap artists only try to give the impression they can summon through their image. If trap and hardcore punk are on two opposite poles of a spectrum, Scarlxrd represents a point on that
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OC’s Alright if you Like Saxophones: Psychedelic Furs and X at the Pacific Amphitheatre
Jessica Moncrief
July 26, 2018
The Psychedelic Furs satisfied everyone’s nostalgia fix at The Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa last Thursday with support from The Fixx and X. What may have seemed like an odd bill melded together perfectly, reminding us that in the 80’s New Wave kids and Punks were cut from the same cloth. Some concert goers that I spoke with throughout the evening held the opinion that The Fixx played the best set of the night and that is saying a lot considering the energy and talent that X and The Psychedelic Furs played with. Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom and D.J. Bonebrake were all in X-cellent form and garnered a reaction from the crowd that was fit for hometown heroes. related content: Burger Boogaloo 2017: The Ballad of John and Iggy They played all the hits like “Your Phones Off The Hook, But You’re Not”, “Los Angeles” and “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene”. Craig Packham of The Palominos joined in for a few songs playing acoustic guitar during “Dancing With Tears In My Eyes” and hopped on the drums while D.J. played the vibraphone for “Come Back To Me” and “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts.” You don’t realize how familiar you are with The
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Janky Smooth Exclusive: A Scene from The Icarus Line Must Die
Janky Smooth Central Command
July 25, 2018
The Icarus Line were an unique and quintessential Los Angeles band filled with much internal conflict and turmoil that inspired the creation of great rock and roll. Filmmaker Michael Grodner set out to capture the band’s history and its member’s personal journeys of death and taxes through Los Angeles in his film The Icarus Line Must Die. In this exclusive scene, Icarus Line lead singer Joe Cardomone finds himself in a struggle that every musician must be familiar with and that’s trying to make good money making music. It feels like a conversation we’ve all had, in a place we’ve all been, only Joe seems totally original. The Icarus Line Must Die is now available on VOD from Google Play, Youtube, iTunes, and Amazon. You can watch the film’s trailer here: Joe Cardamone released his first album as a solo artist this year. Holy War delves into the world of dark electronics to make what some people are calling “industrial soul”. Utilizing a powerful array of symbols and a dangerous singing style, the mystery to this artist seems to thicken the more we learn about him. You can check out Joe Cardamone’s solo album Holy War here:
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets to Kruder & Dorfmeister at The Fonda – Dance to K&D
Janky Smooth Central Command
July 23, 2018
Peter Kruder & Richard Dorfmeister are considered the Godfather DJ’s of Vienna. Celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first EP, G-Stoned, the band is embarking on a tour on which they will perform for four hours straight just like in the old days. The downtempo genre owes everything to this duo and their unique mastery of tonal language. Their masterpieces The K+D Sessions and DJ Kicks have both sold over a million copies worldwide and are staples in any electronic dance music collection. Seeing this group perform is sure to be a memorable and inspiring experience for anyone with an open mind. That’s why Janky Smooth is incredibly proud to be giving away a pair of tickets to Kruder & Dorfmeister at the Fonda Theater on November 4th. Those lucky enough to win and attend the concert will experience a transformative four hours that will make you rethink the possibilities of music. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS FOR KRUDER & DORFMEISTER NOVEMBER 4th AT THE FONDA Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up everytime you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Tag a friend and post a video of yourself dancing to any Kruder & Dorfmeister song in
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A Handle of Jim Beam and a Joint: Weedeater at Union
Rob Shepyer
July 21, 2018
Among the veterans of the stoner metal genre, Weedeater is the loudest, the stoniest, and the best. Often times the bands that come to mind when you say stoner metal are Sleep and Electric Wizard, I figure these people have never seen Weedeater live because once you do and headbang your neck off while every piece of your clothing vibrates and you nearly go deaf, you realize no band is heavier. After a Weedeater show, you won’t exclude them from any conversation about the power of live music. related content: Ascending The Holy Mountain: Sleep At The Fonda Theater The Carolinas aren’t heavily represented in metal but when they are, like in this case, they make such a huge splash that you immediately get a sense of the area. If the Carolinas feel like Weedeater, they’re a bold, down to earth, and toughened bunch. related content: Weedeater And The Obsessed At The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool Dixie Dave, Weedeater’s iconic bassist and vocalist, is the perfect spokesperson for stoner rock. With the ability to drain a handle of Jim Beam and sip on cough syrup during his shows and only being enhanced by these substances, Dixie has develop super human
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