Tag: teragram ballroom

The Dead Milkmen Deliver Cartons of Fun for 2 Nights at Teragram

Rob Shepyer June 6, 2018

The Dead Milkmen are one of the most multi-dimensional and versatile punk bands in the history of the sport. In fact, after seeing them live at the Teragram ballroom, i feel almost as if they’re two bands in one, having one cadence when Rodney Linderman (Rodney Anonymous) sings and another when Joe Genaro sings. Both sides of the coin make for a band that captures the essence of punk and the people that love the music. The set that awaited me on this Friday evening, surrounded by scene veterans that were infantilized to their teenage years in anticipation, was one that truly inspired me as an artist. I heard in The Dead Milkmen’s music a delicate and precise balance between sardonic humor, aggression, and fun that showed me what could be possible in music. related content: Who Needs Pins When you’ve Got Spikes? GBH At The Observatory The first opener of the evening was local band, Small Wigs, a rock and roll quintet with garage sensibilities and shining musicianship. The duel guitar work was impressive and thrilling but they kept it low key, making songs that felt true to an authentic rock and roll. Small Wigs photos from night 1 by

The First Real Day of Summer: Hinds at Teragram

Robert Cohen June 4, 2018

High school is a strange time in life. Caught between wanting the independence you can’t have and having the responsibilities you don’t want, it provides the emotional foundation on which many people build their sense of self and either seize on the opportunity to develop further or retreat towards the path of least resistance. And while high school is likely far in the rear view mirror of many people who attended Monday’s Hinds show at Teragram, for a multitude of reasons, every aspect of the show felt like a trip back into those comparatively halcyon days. related content: What’s Left To Ponders: Pond at Zebulon Kicking off this trend was LA based Jasper Bones. Although it would be easy to say he earns this distinction through his age alone (he’s 19 and I’m pretty sure his parents were the ones standing in front of me whooping for the better part of his set), the content and form of his music were the most telling signs of the high school vibe which came to dominate the night. Going for something of a Latin D’Angelo vibe, though eschewing the more pop aspects of similar acts such as Miguel, it was obvious

Snow Blood On The Leaves: Alice Glass, Zola Jesus, And Pictureplane At Teragram

Aria Silva-Espinosa May 7, 2018

Before catching the first night of the Snowblood Tour, I had these artists placed at two very different ends of the darkwave spectrum. At one end is Alice Glass; a brash, angsty counterculture icon with an unmistakable approach to music and at the other end is Zola Jesus; a classically-trained opera singer with a lush, passionate depth to her music. The Zola Jesus remix of Alice Glass’ ‘STILLBIRTH’ was released at the time of the tours announcement and offered a preliminary glimpse into the middle-ground between these two seemingly polarized artists who still thrive in very similar realms of darkwave. But these two artists have a significant amount of common ground between them, which is evident in the way their performances compliment each other so cohesively. related content: The Growlers Lose The Beach Goth Battle But Won The War This Weekend Both women began performing in their late adolescent years and have enjoyed a decade of recording and touring internationally. After years of writing and recording music at home, Zola Jesus released her first solo album The Spoils in 2009 before her career took off and she toured as a supporting act with Fever Ray and The xx in

The Murder City Devils at Teragram or: How Spencer Moody Learned to Love The Stooges

Rob Shepyer April 19, 2018

After seeing The Murder City Devils for the 2nd time on Sunday at the Teragram Ballroom, I spent a great deal of time contemplating the band’s sound and impact. During one especially thrilling interlude, lead singer Spencer Moody told the story of how he was born in existential crisis, wondering what his purpose would be. Then, one day, he skated to the record store and flipped through vinyl until fatefully landing upon a Stooges record. In his own words, it changed his life. Iggy and The Stooges made him feel like he wasn’t alone, that there were other people in this crazy world that thought like him. The Stooges gave him purpose. Dwelling on this point and correlating it to the band’s sound, I feel like I have an easier time comparing The Murder City Devils to the godfathers of punk like The Stooges, The New York Dolls, The Dictators, or The MC5 than I do fitting them into today’s slew of garage rock bands. That organ they employ, most prominently in songs like “Press Gang” harnesses a throwback sound but it’s not just the music that feels old, it’s the entirety of the band’s presentation. You feel that swinging saloon

A Softly Harsh Friday The 13th W/The Soft Moon and Boy Harsher At Teragram

Rob Shepyer April 16, 2018

Friday the 13th should be celebrated with blood… with killing… with a haunting of your soul. That might not require a weapon unless of course, you mean music and in this case, The Soft Moon‘s post punk is the sharpest knife. Selling out show after show on his tour, Luis Vasquez’s trio from Oakland, CA, has created a new sound in an old form. Lethal Amounts brought together three musical acts, each dwelling in the same realm of dark music but from completely different approaches. Drenched in blue lights and dense shadows, Liebestod is a one man show that uses noise to disjoint and sever your connection to anything familiar in music. He’s a noise performer with an industrial edge that uses electronics to make every show a completely new and original thing. Improvising with every fidget of his wires, I’m not even sure if he knows what sonic monster, he’ll end up spawning even so, it was pleasurable to the eyes, the ears, and with the foundation shaking bass, to the skin and bones too. Based in L.A. but hailing from St. Louis, the rust belt, one can imagine what sort of industrial upbringing fueled his current line of

Earthless Liquified My Face At The Teragram

Rob Shepyer March 7, 2018

I had heard about Earthless forever ago but because of my natural skepticism, I didn’t really feel any need to see an instrumental band that wasn’t some kind of post rock outfit. Then after I heard Bill Burr raving about how incredible Earthless were live, I got about a guzzler’s gallon of fuel put in my engine to go see the band. Fast forward to last week when Dillon told me about the show, and I finally caved and decided to dive in, head-first. And boy was I ever glad to have caved and dived in. This was my first legitimate psych rock show, I know admitting that probably decimates any shred of credibility I had left but it’s true. I was always into the more extreme side of music and then also as a contrarian, seeing everyone in LA get so wrapped up in the whole Desert Daze scene probably made me want to avoid it. I’m not gonna be shopping for bellbottoms at vintage stores anytime soon, but maybe I’ll pop into more psych shows. I dressed in a “Canadian tuxedo” just to fit in at this show and I wasn’t the only one. All that said,

Enter Freedom’s Goblin- Has Ty Segall Finally Jumped the Shark?

Danny Baraz February 8, 2018

In 2017, Ty Segall dropped his 9th solo album which was the second album in his catalog to be self titled and a continuation of what I first felt when absorbing Emotional Mugger- PTFS- Post Ty Fatigue Syndrome- I mean, it seemed like a second self titled album might have hinted that the man himself was tiring. His winning song writing formula began to feel formulaic. There seemed to be a concerted effort on Emotional Mugger to redefine himself- and I stress the word effort! The baby mask, the multiple anecdotal accounts of those who would bear witness told tales of Segall licking his finger like a lollipop and sticking it down people’s throats… but more than that… the music, the songs on Emotional Mugger just didn’t grab me like every fucking album he had put out prior. I thought to myself, “that’s ok that this one album didn’t grab me because all 8 albums prior to this grabbed me by the dick!” Besides, I knew there would be a new album to follow in no longer than 12 months that would once again touch my genitals. Enter album 9- Ty Segall. Ty Segall songs played live with whichever configuration

Raw Emotion Sells: SOPHIE AT The Teragram Ballroom

Janky Smooth Central Command November 21, 2017

On October 30th, I had the pleasure of seeing SOPHIE make their Los Angeles debut. After rescheduling from playing a smaller venue, the concert was upgraded to the Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. Hosted by Red Bull Music Academy, the concert did not disappoint as it was filled with experimental songs interlaced with political and self-loving messages in the form of electronic dance music. related content: Cloak And Dagger Fest The Heart Of Los Angeles Bled From Dusk Till Dawn The opening act, Bully Fae, is a solo artist hailing from Los Angeles. Bully Fae’s set was full of energy, including what felt like choreographed dances to the minimalistic trap beats as they spat words angrily into the microphone. The audience was completely captivated by what was being said on stage as Bully Fae shared personal stories about struggling with illness, yet learning to love and take care of themselves through that difficult process, then the audience broke out of the respectful silence to a massive applause. Songs included “Self – Evidence Intervention”, “Fuckery Bitch”, and the empowering “Defy A Thing To Be”. Bully Fae was completely vulnerable on stage with their emotions ranging from soft whispers to loud screams

The Lemon Twigs At Teragram: A Tale Of Two Brothers

Lawrence Rengert October 31, 2017

Looking for parking in Los Angeles is something you spend a lot of time doing. I was on my way to see The Lemon Twigs and glad I had left early. As I cruised the streets looking for a spot to put my car, I ended up in my teenage neighborhood. Fitting, as the band I was about to see just graduated from high school. Lucas and Maryland was a pretty rough area back in the day but now was starting to look more like Los Feliz twenty five years ago, with it’s own nightlife strip just three blocks South on Wilshire. The outstanding difference between my teenage years and the ones the Lemon Twigs have led is that my friends and I spent most of our time drinking and talking about what we wanted to do, the Lemon Twigs have simply done it. The Lemon Twigs are that band who should not be where they are at their age. The first time you hear their music you think, ‘Yeah but who’s really writing these songs? Who’s really playing them? There is no way this could be the work of a seventeen and nineteen year old,’ but it is. They

Finally, A Ska Review: Less Than Jake At The Teragram

Rob Shepyer October 14, 2017

We here at Janky Smooth cover every genre of rock and hip hop but sometimes, certain styles of music slip between the cracks and don’t get their due. This year I’ve seen everything from “New German Death Art” to “Brass House” to “Trap Jazz” to “Metal Gaze”, so I felt like a huge piece of music would be missing if I didn’t go to a ska show. Less Than Jake might be a little more pop punk fusion than just straight ska, but still, I got my fix of horns, fedoras, checkers, and skanking. Pop punk gets a lot of hate from raw punk fanatics but as a former frat boy, I see the charm in pop punk. I might’ve hated those bands in high school when Pantera and Slayer was all I listened to but now, give me a beer and some friends, and I’ll happily indulge in nostalgia. Not to mention, all the pop punk musicians and fans that I know can out-drink and out-fight most of the “real” punk fans and musicians I know. Pop punk kids are usually blue collar, down home, cool mother fuckers. related content: Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop

The Battle of The Bays: Obituary & Exodus Clash At Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer October 12, 2017

Thrash is the father of every form of extreme metal on the heavy metal family tree. If it wasn’t for Slayer there would be no death metal or black metal. There have always been bands that have teetered on the border of death and thrash metal, german thrash bands like Kreator and Sodom brought death metal vocals and heaviness into thrash, while bands like Obituary brought thrash metal accessibility and groove into death metal. Perhaps that was always the secret to Obituary’s longevity, of all the original Florida death metal bands, beginning with Chuck Shuldiner’s Death then continued with Morbid Angel and Deicide, Obituary is the only band of the bunch still reigning. What separated Obituary’s music from these other bands is that they took a more accessible, groove and rhythm approach to death metal, it wasn’t a total noise fest of blast beats and guttural vocals. The band was always more seeped in their southern rock roots than the rest. Almost like how Weedeater is to stoner metal. related content: Weedeater And The Obsessed At The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool The Florida death metal sound was born out of Tampa Bay in the Morrisound Recording studio but then

Hurricanes in Florida, Earthquakes in Mexico & Quicksand in L.A. At Teragram

Rob Shepyer September 12, 2017

The Teragram Ballroom was sold out for NYC post hardcore band Quicksand’s return to Los Angeles. Filled with old hardcore heads, I was confident the slam-dance-worthy music wouldn’t be able to draw violence out of these gen-x’ers but boy was I wrong. All it takes is one pit psycho to reintroduce danger into rock and roll and force you to put up your dukes or feel like a bitch. related content: Thee Oh Sees And The Practical Applications Of Quantum Physics It began with an album announcement, their first in 22 years. The first single off Interiors, “Illuminant“, sounds just as heavy and groovy and hardcore as anything Quicksand has ever put out and after seeing them live, you really get the sense that bands just can’t make music this good anymore. Montreal’s No Joy opened the night as the only supporting act. They’re a shoegaze three-piece with minimalist vocals, if any during songs. Their rapid drumming and twin six string attack fosters a lunatic lucidity which is different than the rest of the shoegaze flock. No Joy sounds best when they play fast unlike most gaze acts that keep it slow. That said, I wish No Joy dabbled more in the