Tag: no parents
Don’t Fear the Weird: Fidlar’s Record Release at Teragram
Dillon Vaughn
February 4, 2019
Despite 2019 being the 10th anniversary of Fidlar‘s existence, I first heard the band around two years ago while on tour (late to the game, I know.) We were driving somewhere through the Carolinas in a rattling van formerly used to shuttle the homeless out of LA and all six of us were hungover as hell. With four of the bandmates passed out in the back, I was riding shotgun and taking in the sights while my friend that was driving cued up Fidlar’s 2015 record Too and began singing along in that kind of raspy voice you have after a long night out. Something about the tone of that album – the wistfulness, pacing, and honesty about facing adulthood resonated perfectly with the moment. Almost Free, the album being celebrated and released recently at the Teragram marked a new direction for the band that captured their interest in exploring new song structures and instrumentation and allowed this show to highlight other LA bands approaching music with a similar attitude. related content: Family, Friends, FIDLAR: A Punk Rock Love Fest At The Observatory “Don’t Fear the Weird,” the motto scrawled in red across Brandon Schwartzel’s bass guitar summed up both the new direction for
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When We Were Young Festival’s Most Dominant Demographic: Mine
Janky Smooth Central Command
April 19, 2017
When We Were Young- We Became Experts at Sneaking In & Cutting Lines I was still hungover from Choking Victim’s secret set in Long Beach at Freebirds Salon twelve hours before, and already running forty minutes late to the festival, when I remembered that I needed to stop at Target and pick up sunscreen and vitamin C. These are the indicators I observe as I age year to year. Chalk it up to experience but the last thing I wanted was to be sun burned and hungover for day two of a very long weekend. My urgency for arrival was based solely on watching The Getup Kids play the soundtrack to my early adolescence and I was not going to let the naivety of Orange County’s ‘Surf Goth’ youth hold me up. I waited in the main entrance line for the When We Were Young festival and watched cigarette packs get emptied out onto the wooden tables, and a barrage of drug paraphernalia get confiscated and disposed of while the newly minted team of hired security guards emptied pockets. It became apparent within minutes that I was going to have to find an alternative entry if I wanted to get in
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The Orwells And L.A.’s Rocker Red Carpet At Regent Tour Stop
Paige Vreede
April 10, 2017
Mario Cuomo, frontman for The Orwells does not give a fuck what song you want to hear – he just wants to play good music and good music is exactly what him and his compatriots delivered last Thursday at The Regent alongside No Parents and The Walters. Despite all three bands delivering a slightly different sound, the one thing they all shared in common was their rousing ability to cut loose and cavort on the rising star friendly stage at The Regent. One thing we love is the red carpet that is rolled out for every rock and roller by this global community in independent music- which is particularly defined for and fighting the stigma of phoniness in Los Angeles with every hospitable act and selfless key bump. Arriving to the venue at 9:30pm, I was greeted by angsty teens pushing and shoving while howling the words “You got snaked” under the elegant arches of The Regent. With most of their songs coming in as a two minute blow to the face, I could have easily missed No Parents entire set seeing as they opened the show at the early hour of 9pm- at least I didn’t miss it all. related
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TSOL Gig New Material, Movie, Support Tiger Army, Headline The Dwarves
Rob Shepyer
February 20, 2017
The importance and relevance of T.S.O.L. hasn’t diminished one bit after 39 years of music through thick and thin, break ups and reunions. On February 4th, liberty’s true sons held their record release show for The Trigger Complex at the Observatory with support from Dwarves. This was a big night for Jack Grisham because he was also screening his short film Code Blue which he co-directed with Susan Dynner and was financed by fans through a kickstarter campaign. Code Blue is about a high school misfit who scores with the high school hottie only to prematurely ejaculate his way into becoming an even bigger outcast after she shames him on social media. A few days later, the hottie dies and our hero is threatened by his mother with enrollment into military school. So, he runs away to the morgue and finds the girl he never satisfied. He makes love to her corpse, imagining that she’s enjoying him, only to be interrupted by cock-blocking cops. The film ends with our hero in a mental institution. His cellmate says “fuck the police” and our hero replies “only if they’re dead.” Kim Fowley once aptly described punk music as B-movies on record. Well,
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Snapshot of a New Music Industry: White Fang, No Parents & The Birth Defects
Danny Baraz
November 18, 2016
Catching a band you love play live as they emerge from the fear and loathing of a 2 month tour insures that you will witness them at the height of their powers. Ever since the Janky team helped White Fang, No Parents and The Birth Defects send themselves off on the road in a 3 vehicle caravan of knuckleheads and thrashers, I’ve had my eye on this date to check in with the guys about how the tour went- partly because I had visions of all these guys trying to outdo each other with bad personal decisions and partly because I knew they would be as tight as the Clinton’s and Trump’s at Thanksgiving dinner. I find the dynamic of the independent DIY music scene to be fascinating. The way a wave of buzz washes over the internet and indie record stores for a band like White Fang but then gets swept away in the mountain of music being produced and released on a weekly basis, is a snapshot of how young people consume new music. Funkle said it himself in our pre- tour interview, “I want to see if we even still have a national following.” In this new
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Janky Smooth Sessions: Beers, Buds & GnarBurgers w/ White Fang, No Parents
Danny Baraz
October 14, 2016
White Fang, No Parents and the Birth Defects have embarked on a tour for one of the first lineups of L.A. based bands that has made sense to me in quite a long time. We’ve seen No Parents play with Mystic Braves, we’ve seen The Birth Defects play with Fuzz and while I like all of those bands, having them play together is like having Donald Trump and Martin Luther King follow each other in speaking engagement. My fellow Janksters, Paige, Travis and I went to kick it with the bands at GnarBurger as they made their pre tour preparations that included beef, beer and buds as they got ready to hit a nationwide tour in a caravan of sin and friendship. That brings us to the latest installment of Janky Smooth Sessions with White Fang, No Parents, The Birth Defects and friends hanging at GnarBurger before they shoved off on their Escape From L.A. tour. Sunday 16 October 2016 White Fang The Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL, US BUY TICKETS TRACK EVENT I’M GOING Monday 17 October 2016 White Fangwith No Parents The Majestic Café, Detroit, MI, US BUY TICKETS TRACK EVENT I’M GOING Tuesday 18 October 2016 White Fangwith No Parents The Basement, Columbus, OH,
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The Rally To Save The Smell And The Horrid History of DIY Venues in L.A.
Danny Baraz
September 15, 2016
This past Saturday night Ty Segall headlined a sold out benefit show at The Teragram Ballroom. Save the Smell was organized by the two 19 year old musical entrepreneurs of Penniback Records. Penniback represents the 3rd wave of scene kids that have had their DIY awakening at The Smell and with the help of Julian Montano and Luis Ho and so many others, it MIGHT just ensure that the legend of the humble but vital venue continue to be written. But even with the outpouring of support that recently extended an extra year for The Smell community to save itself from being demolished, the ambitious strategy to do so is to raise $1.4 million to buy a permanent home somewhere in a close proximity to it’s current iconic Main Street location. Some scoff, some scowl, some cry foul but The Smell has such few haters for a DIY venue of it’s kind. The kind that always seems to spawn legions of outsiders that feel scorned or slighted. Because those folks are so few and far between, maybe that can explain why the Smell is in the midst of an unprecedented run. If history has taught us anything it’s that DIY
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Family, Friends, FIDLAR: A Punk Rock Love Fest at The Observatory
Joanna Bautista
May 18, 2016
I was finally going to see FIDLAR at The Observatory for a non-festival type show and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Disclaimer: I’m totally one of those fans with FIDLAR tattooed above my knee. I entered the Observatory in the middle of No Parents’ set surprised to see frontman, Zoe Reign with every piece of clothing still on. I think his crop-top made up for it. In past shows it was a norm for Zoe to take off a variety of clothing which was encouraged by fans. I got to say, I would totally dance with this guy. He’s got moves. This band has a great amount of minute long songs and they’ve got catchy stuff. They shouldn’t be a punk band you can just listen to in your room, they must be seen live! San Diego-surf punk band, The Frights were up next and their fan base has grown immensely since the last time I’ve saw them live. My first time seeing them was when they opened for FIDLAR at the Regent in January. There was a small crowd that knew their lyrics but now, everyone in the venue can be heard singing along. A “Fuck Trump” chant
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Bleached Bring Catchy Hooks, 818 Pride & Friends to Teragram Ballroom
Danny Baraz
May 8, 2016
There are certain taboos in modern day, independent music journalism which you don’t breach, for any reason, lest you be nailed to the cross of insignificance. You don’t speak ill of Ty Segall, John Dwyer or Mac DeMarco, never say anything negative of Low End Theory and never play cards with a guy who’s named after a city. Then again, if classic day journalists from Rolling Stone were able to trash Black Sabbath and Zeppelin and continue to increase their circulation despite saying Jimmy Page was “a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs.” I have very little fear of being judged for “getting it wrong” and most of the time, I’m willing to go out on a limb if I believe in what I’m saying. I think I was the only person who reviewed Tame Impala’s “Currents” that didn’t put Kevin Parker’s musical pee pee in my mouth. And now that I’ve had more time with that album, I stand by every statement, even though 3 or 4 songs on that album have grown on me since the time I reviewed it. That being said, saying that I’ve always thought the band Bleached and their live
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No Parents and Plague Vendor Drop In To The Echo for Joint Mini Tour
Johann A. Ramos
November 30, 2015
No Parents, Plague Vendor, No Win and Melted. Its been a while since I’ve covered a show with a line up that actually made sense – not saying that I don’t appreciate a good diverse line up, it’s just been a while. The Echo was the second stop of a mini west coast tour shared by No Parents and Plague Vendor and it was the perfect fit. No Win is the brainchild of Danny Nogueiras, who you might recognize from his important percussion role in the earlier days of a little band you might’ve heard before- FIDLAR. That is as far as their association goes though because their sound is quite different, less aggressive, a little more sad? Comparing bands is counterproductive in my honest opinion so lets move on.. I found myself wanting to sing along to “After Your Legs” by No Win, even though I had never even heard it, prior to that night. They played a catchy and chill set and prepared for what was about to take place the following sets. The calm before the storm, if you will. As Melted set up, I noticed that there was a “new Sam” on the drums. I later found out that the
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Take This: No Parents/Plague Vendor Ticket Giveaway
Janky Smooth Central Command
November 20, 2015
No Parents and Plague Vendor: Two of our favorite, young bands are playing The Echo on Friday November 27th and Janky Smooth is giving away 2 tickets to one winner. No Parents with their hardcore, punk rock arrangements and hilarious approach to the theme and lyrical content of their songs, are one of the most fun and exciting bands in Los Angeles right now. Plague Vendor with their dark themes and haunting rhythms are one of the tightest band in the scene. Lead singer, Brandon Blaine is a rhythmic contortionist and vocal pugilist. The buzz around putting these two bands together is a testament to the diverse musical palette of Los Angeles. SoCal punk band Melted are also on the bill for this mini tour. Additional dates below. Janky Smooth is giving away two tickets to one winner. You can enter our Plague Vendor/No Parents Ticket Giveaway or you can: Purchase Tickets Here This event is 18 and over. Contest Rules: Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Share and Retweet our Plague Vendor/No Parents Ticket Giveaway posts Leave a comment on this post telling us what you are most thankful for this year. Winner will be announced on Wednesday, November 25th at 11am pacific.
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Echo Park Rising 2015: Rising and Rising and Rising…
Taylor Wong
August 20, 2015
In it’s 5th year, Echo Park Rising has become a barometer of culture in Eastern Los Angeles. 20 years ago, the music scene in L.A. was way further west on Sunset Blvd on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. Most of the music lovers that attended Echo Park Rising 2015 this past weekend wouldn’t have felt safe crossing the street in this part of L.A. 20 years ago. 20 years ago, the club now called The Satellite was purchased by a man named Mitchell Frank (and partners) and transformed from a gay disco called Dreams of L.A. and rebranded into an alternative music club they named, Dreams and Spaceland. That one event proved to be one of the most important events in the history and future of the city of Los Angeles. That one event was a catalyst to the complete transformation of everything between Los Feliz to Downtown L.A. Significant events like the building of Staples Center in 1998 and the collapse of the music industry at the turn of the century contributed to the transformation but Mitchell Frank might just go down as one of the most important figures of modern history in L.A. There aren’t many examples of gentrification
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