Tag: the smell

Coachella to The Smell: Are Downtown Boys The Voice We’ve Been Waiting For?

Rob Shepyer April 25, 2017

My love for punk saxophone brought me to downtown Los Angeles on April 18th to see the mighty Downtown Boys pack The Smell. I had heard about the band from the same Rolling Stone article so many seem to have read that claimed this band was something special in a sudden sea of punk and having experienced their show, I find myself agreeing. Coming from the East Coast, Downtown Boys are a rarity to catch on this side of the country but as fate would have it, Coachella brought them out to punk-up that bland-ass lineup and pop the brand-new Sonora tent’s cherry. Downtown Boys are a political punk band of twenty somethings that embody all the good and bad things about the millennial generation. Hailing from Providence Rhode Island, the band started out of the collaboration between Victoria Ruiz and Joey La Neve DeFrancesco from What Cheer? Brigade. Downtown Boys signify something far greater than the new face of punk- I see their political beliefs becoming the core ideology of the “new left”, making the Smell the perfect venue to host the band. Downtown Boys’ LP is named Full Communism, as if Slavoj Zizek himself had a writing credit.

Sloppy Jane at The Smell: When Being A Mean Whore Became A Compliment

Aria Silva-Espinosa February 9, 2017

There isn’t much in the way of diverse options for those looking to loiter in Downtown L.A. alleyways. Well, unless you’re a crack head or an all ages indie music enthusiast, of course. You best believe that the alley that nestles the entrance of The Smell is the cleanest alley east of Figueroa, though. Amidst a turbulent and emotional month for essentially everyone and a year of uncertainty since the demolition notice first darkened it’s doorway, it was the front of the building’s street-facing facade that gave street lurkers and fledgling music journalists the eye candy they were looking for- a fresh coat of paint that was used to paint a mural depicting happy cartoon protesters supporting a litany of issues that weigh heavy on the minds of those that frequent and volunteer at The Smell. Above the door in bold black letters is the rallying cry “NOT OUR PRESIDENT”. I believe it’s the first time I’ve seen The Smell with any distinguishable markings on the street side of the building. A lot of change in the air. Related Article : The Rally To Save The Smell And The Horrid History Of DIY Venues In L.A. This particular block in the heart

Chiptune Leveling up at Freq. Fest: 8bitLA 6.0 at The Smell

Rob Shepyer January 23, 2017

Video games, especially ones for the NES and SNES consoles, are near and dear to my heart. I even have the tri-force from The Legend of Zelda tattooed on my leg. And who could forget that game’s soundtrack? With its fuzz bleeps and boops and doo-doodle-ooo’s… not I, never. I first heard about 8BitLA long ago as a sort of collective of 8bit musical artists but it wasn’t until seeing their announcement for this year’s Freq. Fest at The Smell that I paid them a second glance. 8BitLA was created by Jesse Avila and Kevyn Martinez to spread the gospel of this genre of music. Bringing together fans and forum users from around the world, Freq Fest is the genre’s boss battle. Not having any experience listening to this music, I saw Freq. Fest as an opportunity to broaden my horizons and further (artistically) pervert my mind. Plus, I’ve always liked Horse The Band. There’s this old cliché that music scenes like this are a bunch of outsiders banding together in an “island of misfit toys” scenario but in this day and age, I totally disagree. The weirdo’s of our age are not the ones that go to events like

Best Coast, HEALTH, No Age, Ty & Bleached Help To Save The Smell

Danny Baraz January 20, 2017

As yet another one of 4,397th “Save the Smell” benefits is in the books and we prepare to present to you the review of all the extraordinary talent that agreed to perform at the cavernous Belasco Theater, the throwback Los Angeles venue that cost more to restore and renovate than even the $1.4 million The Smell custodian, Jim Smith is trying to raise to secure a permanent location for the iconic, All Ages L.A. clubhouse for music. We wanted to remind The Smell cynics that Smith has run the multi generational art incubator for 19 years without any apparent profit motive in sight. So as the hum of jaded hipster whispers asking rhetorical questions about where all the money is going grows louder, it’s important to remember what the Smell has given 4 generations of burgeoning, pre-ID, DIY kids whose parents felt curiously comfortable dropping off at a location that 19 years ago was surrounded by the swarming transient citizen population of the Downtown L.A. hopeless and the homeless. Some of the most iconic cult music heroes that were born within the very walls that make what the kids of today would refer to as a “safe space”… The Smell.

Ty Segall and The Smell Founder Jim Smith

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

Zig Zags, The Birth Defects and Mind Meld Murder The Smell

Brent Smith March 15, 2016

The Smell, a non-profit, volunteer-driven, all-ages back alley venue is a diamond in downtown’s gentrified rough. In the wake of some electric rainfall, it played host to a bill of heavy rock psychsters whose blown out amplifiers literally have my ears still ringing. The rare rainfall we get has the ability to dispel the sun’s enchantment, it reveals the hololand that L.A. actually is—reeling in that weird interzone between paradise and dystopia. Or, more simply, the rare rainfall we get makes us feel like Roy Batty at the end of Blade Runner—The moments in our lives are just teeears in the raaain, man! (And yes, only in L.A. can Deckard’s dingy, smoke-filled apartment actually be a Frank Lloyd Wright work of Mayan-inspired art that you can never own, or even rent). No better way to quell (or magnify?) such fleeting existential funks than by seeing Zig Zags and The Birth Defects shake the walls of this defunct coffee shop, or fitness chain, or whatever stupid shit our crypto-fascist social engineers fancy as bankable retail prospects (the legal world calls ‘em “developers”). The opening acts were on fucking point. I love when that happens. If you’ve never heard of Rearranged Face

Rock N Roll Prom At The Smell w/ Them Howling Bones and Isaac Rother

Taylor Wong March 11, 2016

Growing up, I never got to go to prom. It’s not like I didn’t have the opportunity. I just didn’t go. To me prom was for the jocks and cheerleaders. I was too busy getting stoned with my friends to give a shit about a stupid prom. Lucky for me Them Howling Bones threw the prom I always imagined I missed. This prom was set inside The Smell, a good venue for such an event seeing as how no booze is allowed. This added to that age old act of “flasking it” to the prom. I showed up pretty buzzed already, wearing my finest, cheapest suit. I was glad to see that the majority of people in attendance were also dressed to the theme. I took a few people’s prom photo right in front of the dumpster just to the right of the venue’s entrance. When you made your way in through the balloon tunnel, you were greeted by Sad Girl on the 1’s and 2’s playing all your favorite old school prom songs. The Smell was decked out in prom gear. From streamers to balloons, they even had a 50’s car photo booth. They served snacks and refreshments (I

Ty Segall at The Smell shot by Julien Kelly

Ty Segall Unplugged at the Smell

Danny Baraz May 9, 2015

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