Tag: psych rock

Take This: Win Two Tickets to L.A. Witch at The Lodge Room 05/23

Janky Smooth Central Command May 15, 2025

We are giving away a pair of tickets to the L.A. Witch tour stop at The Lodge Room on May 23rd, 2025. Details below… Last time we caught up with L.A. Witch was at the Palladium in Hollywood supporting Janes Addiction and it just re-sparked our love for the band. On May 23rd we’ll get to see them in the preferred environment- an intimate gathering at an iconic venue in the city where they formed. related: Jane’s Addiction- Hollywood Royalty at The Palladium L.A. Witch embarked on a North American tour starting April 19, 2025, with performances in cities including New Orleans, Houston, Austin, and their hometown of Los Angeles at The Lodge Room in Highland Park. They are also set to tour Europe in the fall, with dates across Portugal, Spain, France, and the UK. For fans and new listeners alike, L.A. Witch’s 3rd full length, DOGGOD offers a compelling blend of haunting melodies and introspective lyrics, solidifying L.A. Witch’s place in L.A. Music Scene lore, once and for all. To Enter Our L.A. Witch Ticket Giveaway… Follow our instagram account @jankysmooth Tag a friend Winner will be announced Wednesday, May 21st at Noon Pacific. Good luck!

Desert Daze 2022: 10 Years In The Evolution Of A Music Scene

Danny Baraz November 8, 2022

Walking into Lake Perris Recreational Center took on new meanings this year after last year’s Desert Daze served to exorcize the ghosts of a global pandemic, to teach us that “Nothing that has happened so far has been anything we could control” and heal our mind, body and souls with drum soul-os. While 2021’s pared down Desert Daze was a cautious delight in a sea of dreck on earth, Desert Daze 2022 was a perfectly curated reckless abandon of people having sex in the lake again and breathing all over each other- in through the nose, out through the mouth. The headliners captured 10 years in the evolution of a music scene, the ascent of previously buzzworthy bands into icons celebrating a decade of seminal albums and a new wave of artists that might also one day celebrate the recently released albums they are currently touring on. For some people, Iggy Pop pulling out of the festival before he could impregnate us with music was a deal breaker but luckily, I received so much Iggy sperm the last 6 years that I was ready to bear my Beach House baby. related: Desert Daze 2021- Music, Magick and Medicine 2022 was

UFOs From Tokyo: California Flashback at the Lodge Room

Dillon Vaughn April 8, 2019

Years ago while searching the web for specific sounds from mostly undiscovered bands (to me, at least) from places I’ve never been lead me to a treasure trove of material that’s remained unmatched: PSF records. A very finely curated label operating in Tokyo under direction of the late Hideo Ikeezumi, PSF amassed a catalog of Japan’s underground legends since the mid 80s and continued providing a home for psychedelic and experimental works until Ikeezumi’s death in 2017. Black Editions, a somewhat recently formed boutique label based in LA, began reissuing classic selections from this catalog just before Ikeezumi passed. Operating as a magnet for some of these performers that very rarely (if ever) perform outside of Japan, it feels as if Black Editions has been building toward a perfect show highlighting PSF and it’s contributions to the underground. With the recent reissue of the definitive compilation TOKYO FLASHBACK, it made perfect sense for the label to host a two city festival (appropriately titled) California Flashback. related content: L.A. Buffs Up: Angel Du$t At The Lodge Room With a lineup populated by PSF alumni and associates alike, the two nights occurring in LA at the Lodge Room guaranteed a face melting

Virtually No Dust: Desert Daze 2018

Dillon Vaughn October 23, 2018

It’s impossible to talk about Desert Daze 2018 without discussing the previous year at it’s former location in the high desert. My personal experience as a visitor to DD 17 is unmatched by any other festival I’ve ever attended. The lineup was insane, the installations were engaging, and the location truly felt like it held some kind of spectacular aura. I’ve never understood the appeal of the Joshua Tree getaways Angelenos fiend for and I’m absolutely disgusted by the false bohemian ideology perpetuated by burners (and Burning Man as a whole) but for a brief three days in the high desert it all clicked for me. related content: Desert Daze 2017 Headline Here: Some Variation’s Of Rock’s Not Dead The Institute of Mentalphysics was a challenging place for some because of the of its sporadic dust storms and painfully low temperatures at night, so it seemed like a great idea to find a location closer to the city that still maintained a sense of the desert – minus the harsh elements. Cue the announcement of DD 2018 staking its new home alongside the manmade reservoir Lake Perris: a location touted as an oasis with “virtually no dust” tucked quietly on

How to Trip Off Volume: Elder at The Roxy

Rob Shepyer August 23, 2018

How do you get high? Flower? Shrooms? Synthetics? Running? There are many ways. Some of them led me to this style of stoner/doom metal in the first place but once I had first began frequenting those concerts and stood among other trippers before a stage where a high was induced through music, I realized not every method can be found on erowid.com. Volume can get you high. Walls of sound can break you through sobriety’s ceiling and beyond that threshold is an especially consciousness-shaking altered state. Few bands build walls of sound so high and holy as the ones featured at The Roxy at this show with progressive doom virtuosos Elder. related content: Earthless Liquified My Face At Teragram With Third Circle Visuals behind the projector’s eye, shooting liquid light on stage as if spitting venom like a Dilophosaurus on LSD, the stage was set for Los Angeles’ best kept stoner secret Yidhra to take the stage. Combining heavy, vibrating doom riffs with hallowed, commanding growls, and a theremin’s whirling alien essence, Yidhra’s sound is original and soul-stirring. Like if Sleep slept with Kenneth Anger’s Technicolor skull, this is dark-side of your trip black light metal to the bone. This

Jerry Lives Forever: Grateful Shred at Teragram

Rob Shepyer August 16, 2018

For half my life, I’ve been a diehard fan of the most hippie-slaying bands you could ever hear but throughout that time, working in contrast to that was my love of The Grateful Dead. The Grateful Dead were spawned out of Ken Kesey’s Acid Tests where they played as the house band and got so high that they had to improvise their sounds and obey the psychedelic flow running through them. It gave them the most original feel and song structure of any band from their era and garnered them the most cult following in the history of music. I’m sure had I been around at the time of the Grateful Dead, I would’ve been a “Dead Head” and if that undermines my punk credibility, allow me to share what I witnessed at a recent Dead and Company show at Dodgers Stadium: Dirty hippies, one wardrobe change away from crust punks, snorting cocaine right in front of sixty year old couples. Women flashing and everyone choosing their own seats with no care what was assigned to them on their tickets. Captured by The Dead’s music this month, seeing Grateful Shred perform at the Teragram Ballroom was my way of celebrating Jerry

One Friday Night in Hell Part 4: Os Mutantes at Union

Grace Dunn July 14, 2018

Beads of sweat, sans regret. Move your body to the voodoo rhythm of Bat Macumba on the most sweltering summer night in Los Angeles. I admit it felt too perfect a circumstance for the universe to combine this delectable lineup of Os Mutantes and L.A. Drones in the melting pot that is Union Night club. I remember looking up the show in advance thinking: “Why did a legendary sixties band choose a low key venue far out from the usual popular venues in LA?” I figured perhaps I haven’t explored the venue’s history enough to give it credit. I had been to Union Nightclub years earlier for a show or two, but never since. Either way, I looked forward to this because I missed their set back in 2013 at Carson Creek Ranch for Austin Psych Fest. Moving forward, I knew I wanted a refreshing night of music to dance and thoroughly enjoy movement with the musicians. I couldn’t foresee the added heat of the night making it almost unbearable to move even with the fans blowing into the audience. All I ever saw whenever I would visit the venue in the past was how rowdy the crowd was waiting for an electronic

The De-Evolution of Burger Boogaloo

Rob Shepyer July 5, 2018

Just like in my last Boogaloo review, Janky Smooth apologizes for the opinions herein and advise that anyone below the age of 18 or with an aversion to graphic language, obscenity, or humor, should not continue reading. related content: Burger Boogaloo 2017: The Ballad of John and Iggy Burger Boogaloo 2017 was so good that when we left Mosswood Park last July, we didn’t think 2018’s festival could possibly be better. After all, what band could out-punk Iggy Pop? What sort of headliner could possibly drive the festival further in its evolution? Were they going to bring David Buoy back from the dead? Total Trash productions was clever though, they knew they had to think outside the box if they wanted to make Burger Boogaloo California’s undisputed champion of festivals. So what did they do? They realized that progress doesn’t necessarily have to move forward like we’d expect. No, the answer was De-Evolution. And in the spirit of this movement backward, to the primordial swamp we once infested and called home, what was once the Gone Shrimpin’ stage in 2017, an ode to foot fetishes, was now Toxic Paradise. A mutant stage with tentacles and eyeballs sticking out of the

The Horrific Beauty of A Place To Bury Strangers: APTBS at the Regent

Grace Dunn June 26, 2018

A Place To Bury Strangers grant you access into their dome of ear deafening delights. Oliver Ackermann, Dion Lunadon and Lia Simone are the gatekeepers seething with energetic enthusiasm like a rabid dog foaming at the mouth. Upon arriving to The Regent, the first thing one ought to check for at this gig is the merch table. Why you say? It’s not often you find custom made pedals from one of the band members. First comment I hear from some guy, “They’re cheaper to buy here than online.” He turns to the lady merch keeper and asks, “You guys take card?”. related content: The First Real Day Of Summer: Hinds At The Teragram On top of the usual merch from touring bands, you can buy ‘Death By Audio’ (DBA) effects pedals crafted by lead singer/guitarist wizard Oliver Ackermann. There is great inspiration that has been spurred from his DIY pedal company. The documentary ‘Goodnight Brooklyn’ directed by Matthew Conboy gives great insight into the glorious history that raised out of the beginnings of DBA. It builds up the expectation for each wild APTBS performance. I settle into the crowd 10 minutes before their set time. Random enough, I look around the arches of the

Psych Rock Talk Radio: Wooden Shjips at the Bootleg Theater

Robert Cohen June 12, 2018

Recently I was talking with a friend of mine who could not wrap his head around how anyone could listen to NPR for more than a few minutes. After a fair amount of prodding from others in the group, he was able to admit that it occasionally showcased relevant or otherwise interesting stories; however, its languorous, bordering on comatose, delivery of the material in his mind catapulted any idea of an extended listening session in the realm of the unthinkable. While there are many qualities separating Thursday’s Wooden Shjips show at The Bootleg from listening to talk radio, the further one goes down the rabbit hole with them, the more apparent the similarities become. related content: Between Coachellas, Brazilian Boogarins At The Echo For this reason, it’s almost poetic that the lead in to the main event of the night was named Terry Gross, in this instance being the San Francisco based rock outfit, not the eponymous radio host of NPR’s Fresh Air (although, I would’ve happily paid extra to see her shred for a couple bars). Though I’d never heard of them before and pondered over whether or not the bass player was a long lost cousin

What’s Left To Ponders: Pond At Zebulon

Robert Cohen May 29, 2018

One of the best things my Dad ever taught me was to learn the rules laid down by any system before deciding which ones deserve to be broken. After all, any rebellion set off without having done the necessary research can be painted at best as laziness and at worst as unbridled ignorance (i.e. the Occupy movement and/or the Tea Party). And Tuesday night at Zebulon, nothing was more evident than the fact that while Pond and their protégé Lord Fascinator have learned what it takes to make “successful” music, they’ve discarded any rules which have gotten in the way of their respective visions, much to the benefit of all who are willing to give them a chance. related content: Stayin’ Alive: Giorgio Moroder’s 78th Birthday At The Globe Theater Arriving at the beginning of the night was New York based DJ/performer Lord Fascinator. While I had never heard his music before, he managed to make an impression from the moment he and his band walked on stage; however, anyone who looks like dealer to a Heaven’s Gate offshoot out of the East Village likely would. Once the initial novelty of his appearance wore off though, he kicked off a

Between Coachellas, Brazilian Boogarins At The Echo

Rob Shepyer April 24, 2018

As I continue my education in psych rock, I start seeing these shows as lectures and the artists as professors in preparation for my “thesis” at this year’s Desert Daze. That said, it was refreshing to get an international take on the genre with Boogarins, a band that hails from Brazil and played the Echo as an off-shoot show between their Coachella sets. They were actually the best psych band of the few I’ve seen and drew me closer to understanding and liking the genre more than the other shows I’ve been to. related content: Desert Daze 2016: Quantifying The Physics Of A Good Time The first band was another non-American band, Señor Kino, from Sonora, Mexico. Their songs are in Spanish, though that doesn’t deter anyone from reading the feel and joy and changes in tone in their songs. Señor Kino are a surf rock band with a pinch of 90’s alternative and I mean that as a total compliment, like the best kind of 90’s rock. Although the band is rather young, they seem to be emotionally intelligent beyond their years and I sense this solely from seeing them live and never talking to them or understanding their lyrics.