
Tag: indie

Ty Segall Unplugged at the Smell
The sky was illuminated by a brilliant flash of light followed by a loud and ominous rumble. The rain was coming down on me as I walked down the alley behind Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles approaching The Smell. As I got closer to the entrance, I saw Jason Finnazo of The Birth Defects nervously smoking a cigarette in the rain. He had been the opening act of the evening in which the band Feels and Ty Segall were trading in their face melters for acoustic guitars. “Did you feel naked up there?” I asked him as he took a deep pull off of his smoke. “Yeah, everytime I do this, I always say that I’ll never do it again”. He proceeded to go through the inventory of issues he had and I kept thinking how musicians were like chef’s- always pointing out where the meal was too salty and never giving any credit to the deliciousness of their creation. I was bummed I missed his set because I love The Birth Defects and one thing that is hard to imagine is The Birth Defects unplugged. It’s exhilarating when artists go out on a limb. I did make it

New Album Review: Metz II
Every time I think I’ve heard the best of what today’s rock has to offer, I get sucker-punched by a band like METZ. If you haven’t heard their 2012 self-titled debut album, then Spotify that shit right now and relish in true noise band glory. With the axiomatic smashing and crashing of the ‘music industry’—that oxymoron that continues insisting upon itself—we’re getting exposure to a lot more bands who no longer have to compromise their sounds for vanilla marketing schemes, and who now have the freedom to continue pushing boundaries and challenging their audiences. METZ’s sophomore album, II no doubt attests, and convinces me that I’m going to be keeping tabs on these Toronto-based hellcats—doing the Canadian image justice in the destructive wake of Bieber Fever. Sub Pop, that label “up there” where it’s always wet, that label that’s kept us radicalized and on our toes for the last three decades, has done it again. They’ve given a great rock band the space and the faith necessary to maintain and cultivate their own vision, which is as loud and unwavering as any fan could hope. Like the preceding album, there are no frills, no bullshit, they don’t let up. No

Fuzz Unleash Distorted Heavy Overdrive On El Rey
Words: Justin Thomas Photos: Taylor Wong Last night Ty Segall, and his longhaired trio, Fuzz headlined the sold out El Rey Theatre in West Hollywood with support from Endless Bummer and CCR Headcleaners. Heads were banged, faces were fervidly melted and stoner jams tirelessly ensued. News Flash: Mr. Ty Segall knows his way around a fucking drum set, Ladies and Gentleman. Arriving just after 9 PM on a Friday night, with the venue nearly one third full, Endless Bummer were already creating mass amounts noise in the realm of psychedelic bong-rip friendly jams. The Los Angeles locals, Endless Bummer, carried the torch of the thriving garage scene well. Like Fuzz, as a three piece they did an efficient job producing a wall of noise while working in the ambit limitations of two dudes hammering guitars and a girl ripping the drums apart. Next up were the San Francisco five-piece CCR Headcleaners. The Headcleaners set the pallet well for Fuzz and warmed the waters for the crowd that was beginning to trickle in. CCR had some stand out moments during their set, one of which included a stoney version of Free the Freaks off their 7 in. split with Fuzz, LAMC

A Night at the Museum with Cherry Glazerr and White Fence
Words: Savannah Peykani Photos: Taylor Wong Where can you find dinosaurs going hard in the pit on a Friday night? At the Natural History Museum, of course, as part of their First Fridays program, which last night featured Cherry Glazerr and White Fence. First off, I have to say how genius the First Fridays’ concert series is. Science is always cool, Los Angeles rock is better than ever and the audience has never been to a venue with a floor this clean. After navigating LA traffic from Orange County, I eventually made it to the Hall of North American Mammals to mosh with some stuffed gray wolves and Clem Creevey, Cherry Glazerr’s lead singer and guitarist. I’ve seen Cherry Glazerr a handful of times, most recently when they opened for Sky Ferreira in November. Six months, a new single and dozens of shows later, Clem is an entirely different performer. Once a pixie teenaged hipster, now Clem is more punk demon ready to take on anyone who dares call her and her band “cute.” Shrieking, gut-busting vocals unleashed a fury of angst throughout the crowd. Their brief set, of which I only saw the last half, was enough to get

Burgerama 4: Burger Food Poisoning
Almost every place in the world now breeds the type of angsty teens that pick up guitars to butcher some out of tune power chords. What is it about Orange County, California that continuously, for the last three generations in a row, forms and re forms these amazing scenes that surround dozens of good local bands? Many bands that eventually rise to international fame or at least, notoriety. Decade after decade the youth of Orange County reject the status quo, vandalize their strip malls, piss in their pools and rock the fuck out. Once the music industry crashed and burned, you would think that those kick-pedal-carrying kids would remain in anonymity in the solitude of their own bedrooms, never to move out of their parents homes. Rising from the smoke and the ash of a music industry unwilling to adapt to the digital age comes Burger Records bearing, of all things, cassette tapes. They are here to service this generations’ insatiable thirst for angst, sex and adolescence. Burger Records was formed in 2007 by Sean Bohrman and Lee Rickard. They allowed all their artists to retain complete control of their works and primarily, all of their releases have been on cassette.

Panache Spring Fling at The Echo: Jacco Gardner, Ultimate Painting, The Entrance Band and more…
Two nights ago I was at one of the most unglamorous dive bars in Ventura, a show organized for label mates of Jacco Gardner, The Miseries. The place was dark and smelly with dartboards and bikers, prostitutes (I may have only imagined them), a guy even took off his pants going full frontal and a bartendress showed up late, but just in time to direct security around the bar as girlfriends threw Q balls at boyfriends heads. Los Angeles garage sensations The Cigarette Bums were opening up but there was something special about that night and the willingness of the bands to play a show there, in that semi-dangerous and remote spot. There was something special about it because nothing was being handed to anyone and each band would have to work the crowd (most of whom knew nothing about these bands or the musical styles they played), fight to be heard, deal with the worst sound equipment imaginable, everything was running late and it was still an unknown if the last band of the evening would even have enough time to play. There was something tragic, yet beautiful and romantic about it, it was a great show. Today I

Don’t Think, Just Drive: Deap Vally Always Worth The Trip
For the past few weeks, Moon Block Monday’s has been a recurring event at the Continental Room in Fullerton. Week after week, the lineups have intrigued me but I have been unable to muster the energy for the drive from LA to Orange County at the end of a weekend of covering shows. Luckily, Moon Block’s last show at The Continental Room fell on a Sunday. Even luckier than that, Deap Vally was the headliner. The show also featured L.A. Witch and Summer Twins. I didn’t make it in time to see Globelamp. After interviewing Julie, Lindsey and Phil Pirrone of Moon Block/Desert Daze a couple of weekends ago, I realized that not only are these people talented musicians and relatable song writers but I found out that they are also genuinely nice and hospitable people. It makes it easy to be a loyal fan. There is nothing worse than meeting artists you respect and finding out they are douchebags. I made my way down to Fullerton California on Sunday evening. I got to the venue and ordered a beverage. The trio of women that call themselves L.A. Witch took the stage quietly but that quiet didn’t last long. The battery of

Tijuana Panthers Rock Teens and Their Parents at The Echo
Teens and parents alike congregated to see Tijuana Panthers at The Echo for a pseudo-matinee show courtesy of KXLU 88.9. With the sun still shining outside, I nestled into the cave-like venue around 6:30 PM, which felt a little strange. The bar tenders were drinking coffee, the patio atmosphere seemed abnormally void of booze, and my pizza order was, for the first time, a sober and conscious decision. The vibes were surely a bit off but a promise to see Tijuana Panthers for my first time kept my spirits high. I arrived just in time to see openers Wounded Lion. While it was merely 7 PM, Wound Lion seemed to pay it no mind and ripped right through their quick set, which the lead singer boasted/cautioned would only last 27 minutes. After each song, the band members would rotate instruments, while their resident hype man screamed along and persisted the white man can’t dance theory. Taking the stage at 8 PM was Tijuana Panthers. Before I even heard their music I loved them strictly because of their name. Tijuana is a bat shit crazy place I frequented as a teenager where morals are extremely low and the price of a

A Place to Bury Strangers Makes Eardrums Bleed at The Echoplex
Last night The Echoplex played host to a union of reverberate noise courtesy of A Place To Bury Strangers, Creepoid, and Tennis System. I arrived around 10pm, just in time to catch the Los Angeles transplanted three-piece, Tennis System. Like the other bands billed, Tennis System produced no shortage of noise, setting the stage perfectly with their stony jams for the rest of the acts to follow. Next up were the Philadelphia bred four-piece, Creepoid. Lead by guitarist Sean Miller and bassist Anna Troxell, Creepoid had a dark, shoegazey sound that translated extremely well live. Much like A Place To Bury Strangers, their songs seemed to deviate from their recorded structure, instead, leading into reverb filled bridges and bass driven breakdowns. Last night was their last stop on the tour supporting APTBS, and they made it known. Before Anna Troxell led into “Tired Eyes”, she dedicated the melancholy track to ABTBS letting them know how much she would miss them. To wake the sleepy Sunday night crowd at 11:30 PM was A Place To Bury Strangers and wake them they did. Never in my life have I experienced a band that produces the amount of noise that A Place to

No Barrier Between Thee Oh Sees and Audience at Human Resources
Last night I found myself on a mission on the streets of Chinatown, iPhone GPS in hand, searching for Human Resources. I love Chinatown, it’s an eccentric place to wander around and explore. Last night however, was not one of those nights. I was on a mission to find Human Resources because it was there that Thee Oh Sees were billed to melt faces. Tucked away on a little side street, I saw a bunch of grimy kids smoking cigarettes, huddling around 32 racks of beer on the street; I had found the spot. Human Resources is a DIY-style venue, with bare white walls, lofty vaulted ceilings, and no stage. Looking around, I couldn’t help but notice that everybody was getting fucked up drinking beers and smoking weed. With a five-dollar cover, no security in sight, and a room full of rowdy kids, the evening was sure to be mayhem. Taking the stage around 9 PM was the Los Angeles duo, Caldwell/Tester. To put it bluntly, Caldwell/Tester made a shit-load of noise. With their ominous, and sometimes even celestial, beaming sounds, the duo played what I thought was a total of two songs over the course of their 45-minute set.

Warpaint and The Garden Mesmerize at YAAAASS! benefit show
Brett Boyd is a music teacher at John Marshall High School who has taken a simple guitar class and turned it into a program that not only teaches students the basics in music, but the ins and outs of production, sound, and the business itself. The “Youth in Rock” program not only gives students a head start in various music careers, but provides the extra motivation that so many of us needed in our high school years. Unfortunately, California’s never ending education budget crisis threatens to put an end to this because for some reason (without making this review too political) lawmakers believe arts and education should be the first thing to go amidst financial shortage. With that being said, Boyd reached out to friend Theresa Wayman of Warpaint to see what could be done to save his class. The result was the first ever “Warpaint Presents” event at Fais Do-Do Saturday night that featured local heros like L.A. Witch, The Garden, and Warpaint themselves. The sold out fundraiser reflected the sheer magnitude of the importance of music to the Los Angeles youth and was an impressive rebuttal to those who believe music education is unnecessary. The night began with

A Seminal Performance by The Growlers on Valentines Day
Could there be a more perfect Valentines Day show than The Growlers? Last night at The Hollywood Palladium , lovers, clubbers, surfers, stoners, loners and large, roving packs of single women descended upon the historic Los Angeles venue to pay homage to the most famous band to ever come out of Dana Point California. Like most Growlers shows, it was a complete freak show of costume clad customers and an overflow of amazingly beautiful women. My wife and I Uber’ed around town so that we could get sloppy and sexy whenever the moment called it for it. We got to the venue and were met by Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe and a heavy set Dorothy who would not break character. The Palladium was filled with sounds of old swing and big band records being played over the P.A prior to the Growlers arrival. You could almost see the ghosts of flappers dancing through the overflowing crowd. The stage was adorned with huge paper hearts and there was a rather large net of pink and white balloons hanging from the ceiling. The band took the stage to one of the most enthusiastic welcomes I’ve seen from a Palladium audience in a