Tag: featured
Santoros Record Release w/ Cutty Flam, Cigarette Bums & Solar Sons
Aria Silva-Espinosa
January 5, 2017
The Echo was decorated with pinatas and streamers with the words “El Perdedor” in metallic mylar balloon across the top of the stage for the release party for Santoros 3rd Album. Initially, the crowd was thin and only about a quarter of those in attendance by the end of the night were present for the opening sets. That didn’t seem to dissuade.Cigarette Bums, who took the stage as the first set to play songs off their new record due next month on Lolipop Records. The most outstanding quality of Cigarette Bums is how well-rehearsed their live sets are and the stoic, yet enthusiastic stage presence they exude. Musically, the band is driven by steady percussion with an upbeat tempo, giving the impression of the kind of band you wish would’ve played your high school prom, which seemed to be the theme for the night. There is a sense of urgency in the performance in a sense that they simply cannot wait to share their music with the audience. “We just love to play with our friends and we want to do that as much as possible”, says Steven Carrera, frontman of Cigarette Bums. Steven went on to tell me,
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The Janky New Year Top 10 SONGS of 2016 Rated by Contributors
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 5, 2017
We don’t care what people say about you, 2016; Janky Smooth loves you. Sure, you skull fucked the country with a culturally divisive presidential election that scrambled our brains, pitted us against each other and made propaganda the norm. Yes, we were able to normalize the images of police gunning down unarmed civilians in the street and forced us to redefine the word “justified”. Granted, almost half of our country believes that global warming is either a hoax or overstated as the polar ice caps and ancient sea shelf melts and breaks off into the ocean at a rate more rapid than anyone could’ve dreamed or climate scientists had calculated. Sure, you took a massive amount of musicians, actors, artists, leaders and athletes that basically everyone on the planet loves the most. But you know what? At least you gave us some of the best independent hip hop, metal, electronic, punk and straight forward rock songs than any of your younger brother and sister centuries have sounded in quite some time. So we forgive you but now, We The People of Janky Smooth have to make some decisions on our favorites from the best songs of 2016. We’re up for
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Fishbone at The Observatory: The Return of Philip “Fish” Fisher, OG
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 4, 2017
2016 was coming to a close and I was finally getting a chance to check out a show at The Observatory in Santa Ana. As curious as I was, who the hell would get me to drive all the way down to Santa Ana from LA on a Monday evening? The Legendary FISHBONE, that’s who! Sprinkle on top of that, the fact that one of LA’s finest musicians, Philip “FISH” Fisher would be on the Fishbone drum kit this night, and I was instantly more than game to brawl with Monday rush hour traffic to go and see the band’s Original Members Return, as they have for the past few years, one by one. related content: Fishbone at The Troubadour- The Greatest Live Band of All Time First up on the bill were STARPOOL, an OC Ska/Rock band that definitely has some punch. The band kicked out a nice blend of Ska/Reggae, Rock and World Beat and was fronted by a strong singer in one, Alan Meade. I was impressed by their tight sound, confidence and a set list filled with great songs. The crowd was very receptive to them but being a quality band was the key to the crowd’s
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The Janky New Year Top 10 Albums of 2016 Rated by Contributors
Janky Smooth Central Command
January 2, 2017
What the fuck is up with publications that post their best of, year end lists of favorite records, songs and shows at the beginning of December? What’s more important- getting it out first or getting it “right”? RTJ3 dropped on Xmas Day, hardly enough time to absorb an entire album, much less rank it toward the top for top records of the year. But I would be pulling my own hair out if I missed acknowledging El-P as one of the best producers of this era, (sans the ghost writers that have become customary at his level). El-P is one of the most underrated rappers in hip hop, maybe because of the un-equaled political and social rhyme and flow of Killer Mike, who probably SHOULD crush Kanye in the 2020 Democratic Primary for president, not to mention the vocal booth but would bet most pure hip hop publications would favor Life of Pablo over the 3rd album by two middle aged guys who were probably pretty close to looking for a day job before their self titled debut album dropped in 2013. Day For Night Fest: Futurists of Audio & Visual Converge in Houston In my research to
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Metallica At The Fonda: Best Thrash Band of All Time or CIA Asset?
Danny Baraz
December 29, 2016
I got the text from Taylor Wong about a week prior. A text that would’ve gone without a shred of excitement or so much as a double take for as long as text messaging technology has existed. “Metallica is playing the Fonda Theater next Thursday.” But after the past few months of one new Metallica track after another being released on YouTube and jogging my consciousness and the very building blocks of my life’s history as a musician and song writer, I quickly started realizing that “Hardwired” was not a one off anomaly or lighthearted but isolated indulgence by the band that wrote “Fight Fire with Fire”, “The Thing That Should Not Be” and “The Four Horsemen.” Is the reemergence of Metallica just a part of the normal, cyclical nature of pop music or is it something more? Could it be that Metallica are covert CIA agents, penetrating the thoughts and emotions of fans to deliver into and infiltrate the sub-consciousness of fans as some type of clandestine alarm clock, coupled with fake news outlets like YourNewsWire and CNN to create a cloud of confusion and disinformation? The U.S. and U.K. both have a history of using the CIA and
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Day For Night Fest: Futurists Of Audio & Visual Converge In Houston
Lindsay Krause
December 26, 2016
Shadowy figures traverse dimly lit concrete walkways, gliding past “High Voltage” warning signs that adorn massive steel boxes hanging from the ceiling. A chain link-fence houses what appears to be some sort of parasitic mass of hair, the fibers hovering above curious crowds of observers like a space creature. A neo-futuristic looking couple decked out in silver metallic platforms, all black skintight clothing and bondage style leather harnesses hold hands as they navigate the industrial landscape and make their way toward the Blue stage. Had I taken the red pill and woken up in the goth haunt Club Hel from the film The Matrix? It certainly felt that way, but I was in fact partying inside Houston’s premier winter music and arts festival, Day for Night. Taking residence in a vacant post office building in the heart of downtown the second edition of the gathering boasted an exclusive Bjork digital exhibit, a highly-anticipated headlining appearance from Aphex Twin (his first set in the U.S. since Coachella 2008), 3 outdoor stages and a multitude of thought provoking light installations. The event is the product of the minds that organize Houston’s Free Press Summer Fest, yet Day for Night offers an experience that
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The Adolescents & The Dickies: Peckerwoods Gone Wild in Orange County
Jessica Moncrief
December 18, 2016
An All-Star Punk line up at The Observatory In Santa Ana included OG Punks The Adolescents, The Dickies, The Alley Cats, and The Crowd. A damn near perfect embodiment of late 70’s and early 80’s SoCal Punk Rock and a throwback to a territorial and cultural dynamic from not that long ago. related content: The Adicts, Reverend Horton Heat, Smut Peddlers at The Observatory Alley Cats were the openers and I was totally looking forward to their set but thanks to a horrible crash involving a big rig that had traffic backed up for 3 hours, I made it into the building right as they were ending their last song. Such a bummer but nothing compared to the carnage we passed on the way there. Alley Cats originally featured husband-and-wife team Randy Stodola (guitar and vocals) and Dianne Chai (bass and vocals), along with drummer John McCarthy, however the current line-up only includes one original member, frontman Randy Stodola. related content: Punk Rock Bowling 2015 and What Is Punk, Poser? Huntington Beach natives, The Crowd, are arguably one of the first and best bands of their genre and they’re well known for their brand of OC surf punk developed in
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The Faint Get Freaky w/ Janky Smooth Sessions Interview
Janky Smooth Central Command
December 15, 2016
In our latest installment of Janky Smooth Sessions, Lauren McKnight successfully stalked The Faint from Orange County to Salt Lake City after their chance encounter outside a porta-potty at Beach Goth V. With this interview taking place just days before Halloween, Lauren had a plan to carve pumpkins with Dapose and Todd Fink of The Faint. It became evident that bringing knives to an interview probably wouldn’t get the band as relaxed as one would want to get them to spill their guts- so to speak… The interview DID get spooky when the boys from The Faint confirmed that their old studio had an overflow of dead bodies stacked in it at one point and when Lauren lost consciousness and started making sandwiches in a comatose state after a strobe light sent her into an uncontrolled seizure. We swear. The fact that this was supposed to be a Halloween special and we’re releasing it mid-December shouldn’t surprise you. Janky is the first word of this publications name- the last word in accessible culture. related content: Beach Goth 2015- The Party of the Year Words: Danny B Videographer: Steven Stone Video Editor: Pedro Torres
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Midnight Mass 2: Dystopian Themed Xmas Fest in an LBC Warehouse
Aria Silva-Espinosa
December 14, 2016
Downtown Long Beach hosted the second edition of Midnight Mass at The Packard, a creative space venue featuring large crystal chandeliers and an outdoor patio space decorated with vibrant murals. The venue’s generous space and even all-gender indoor restrooms set the vibe for the very best of what a DIY music festival can and should be. A 12-hour festival is a lot to put together, but Astro Lizard Records and Freakstyle Booking worked tirelessly to put together a solid lineup with a bit of something for everyone in attendance. As with generally any type of performance, the set times ran a little behind schedule but nobody seemed to mind. The weather was accommodating and a crowd gathered early in the day to watch Nectarines on the outdoor stage a little after 2:00pm. Intense but lighthearted power-punk group Clit Kat, fronted by the ever-charming Mag, took the outdoor stage and revved up our engines for the day with songs about sucking, fucking and having fantasies involving Steve Buscemi. Onlookers passing by on the street even stopped to watch Mag tear it up on stage, with heavy percussion and lyrics that make people delightfully uncomfortable. Clit Kat and some of it’s members,
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The Spits at Union: Trash and Glamour United in Los Angeles
Rob Shepyer
December 13, 2016
Cha Cha chicks and Footsies freaks, Full Time Punx and Part Time Punx, vinyl archeologists, wax wizards- Blundertown has sounded the clarion call and presented to you, on stages made of broken glass and cigarette butts, The Spits at Union Nightclub. This is the first show at Union I’m reviewing, so I’m going to take the opportunity to bathe you in my admiration for that special place. Is it in Crenshaw? Is it in K-town? Do you know it as Union or do you know it as Jewel’s? Do you party on the top, the bottom, or on the smoker’s patio? At any given show, all these places are poppin’ off- lit af. The top floor which hosted our event on this chilly Thursday night is huge, has two bars, plenty of space to chill, flirt, fuck, or just head bang and slam dance your punk puke out of your eyes. It can host a huge “credible” band but opts out of that for the real shit to service the cool kid contingent- and there’s plenty of places to sit… what a fucking concept! The first band to appease the gathering hordes was Dirty and His Fists with a dress
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L7 Slay Troubadour For First Time Ever In Quest For Unfinished Business
Vanessa Burgundy
December 10, 2016
Los Angeles was soaking wet. Drenched and dripping. A cold quiet Sunday…but not at the world renowned Troubadour in West Hollywood. L7 was making history, gracing the stage for the first time in their 31 (!) year career. I almost didn’t make it out, fresh off a raucous and sleepless trip to NYC, but this was the first of two final shows for L7 after a continuous 2 years of touring leading up to the premiere of their documentary “L7: Pretend We’re Dead”. I threw on all black and headed west. I walked into the Troub right as Suzi (Gardner) told the sold-out crowd to tip their waitresses, as she used to be one there. I love L.A. They were only into their 3rd song and the place was already a sweat monstrosity, replete with mini circle pit for a few of the (many) old school heads that came out that night. Donita had her flying V strapped on, Jen (“Precious” Finch) struggled with her tech to get her Misfits bass working and they had a false start the 4th or 5th song in. It was then that I realized they were also wearing all black…they had just returned from
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Peter Murphy’s Flawless “Stripped Down” Set at The Observatory
Jessica Moncrief
December 8, 2016
Our adventure started at The Observatory in Santa Ana—no way could there be any better way to begin our shenanigans than with a “Stripped Down” set by the Bauhaus godfather of goth himself, Peter Murphy. When your Darkside homegirls come to town to catch an icon like Murphy, you prepare yourself for a slightly degenerate, mostly legal, goth girls night out on the town. After waiting for what seemed a lifetime, Peter Murphy made his way to the stage dressed completely in white with glowing, stark white hair to match. None of us have ever quite seem him like this and as if his appearance and voice weren’t enough, he commanded all eyes to the stage during a diva moment when he poured his bottle of water on some dudes head whilst sharply reprimanding him for “talking and drinking beer” during his set. Sorry Peter, if people wouldn’t have been drinking and listening to a DJ spin dance music for an hour and a half while waiting for you, they may have been less drunk and more likely to shoe gaze through your whole set. It’s always fun to see him lose it, though. It made us giggle remembering the
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