Category: REVIEWS

The Top 10 Janky Smoothest Albums of 2014

Danny Baraz December 10, 2014

We at Janky Smooth commend all the offline and online publications that take the time to find the top 10 or 100 or 1000 songs of 2014. It’s quite the undertaking and 2014 was a GREAT year for songs. To us, the mark of greatness is not the ability to write one song that people can’t get out of their heads but rather the rare talent it takes to produce a compilation of related art that is cohesive and extraordinary. Check out our picks for Best Albums of 2014 10. Black Lips- Underneath The Rainbow9. OFF!- Wasted Years8. Trash Talk- No Peace7. War on Drugs- Lost in the Dream6. The Shrine- Bless Off5. Obliterations- Poison Everything4. Ty Segall- Manipulator3. Aphex Twin- Syro2. Ariel Pink- Pom Pom1. Run the Jewels- Run the Jewels 2

Sleaford Mods: Hip Hop Gutter Punks and their latest release, “Chubbed Up+”

Danny Baraz November 21, 2014

There is nothing quite like a subversive point of view set to a beat and a cockney accent. With all the pseudo-patriotic musicians in the mainstream and all this psychedelic revival amongst the youth of America and abroad, we look to England and bands like Sleaford Mods from Nottingham to create a proportionately angry voice for the working class. Their latest release, Chubbed Up + is an important follow up to the minor success and major statement made by their 2013 release, Austerity Dogs. There is no sense that Sleaford Mods are “maturing as artists”. This album is a compilation of previously released tracks and new songs released on Ipecac. All their tracks feature the same, changeless, driving, monotone beats that are just a backdrop for vocalist, Jason Williamson to unleash his verbal assault against a new class of aristocracy and the sheep who allow themselves to be sheared on a daily basis. If you are looking for dynamic, musical arrangements then Chubbed Up + is not the album for you. If you are looking for signs of life and evidence of some type of pulse in the heart of man, then this might just become one of your favorites.

Review: Reading between the lines of TV on the Radio’s latest, “Seeds”

Janky Smooth Central Command November 20, 2014

Something is rotten in the state of New York- so TV on the Radio have come to Los Angeles to figure out how to get rid of the smell. More than likely it is the stench of love’s rotting corpse. The magic of new TV on the Radio release “Seeds” is that they want you to figure out who did the killing. The first part of Seeds is seen from the eyes of somebody who has been sh*t on pretty badly. It skims through the good memories of a relationship and finally finds the flaws that everybody but you saw, finally giving in and looking for a way to make it all disappear. In “Happy Idiot”, the leadoff single, our little sad panda lets us onlookers know… “I’m gonna bang my head to the wall/ ‘Till I feel like nothing at all/ I’m a happy idiot / To keep my mind off you.” By the end the record you aren’t too sure if the album “Seeds”, isn’t so much of a recollection as it is a confession. As with most relationship endings the lines get blurred and you aren’t quite sure who said what to who and who shoved the knife

Tetema- Geocidal: A new project by Mike Patton and Anthony Pateras

Danny Baraz November 19, 2014

Tetema-The new project from Mike Patton and Anthony Pateras is nothing short of an abstract, conceptual masterpiece. There are no hooks here. This will receive no radio play- except, possibly from the least commercial, college radio stations. This album, “Geocidal”, came directly from the loins of Patton and Pateras with the only desire being to create the most pleasing and haunting sonic landscapes. Patton proves that his virility to plant his musical seed in the least inseminated musical wombs is still alive and well and has been reborn into a child named, Tetema. If I had to reference a Mike Patton influence to paint a picture then I would summon the non-sensical and tangential interludes found in between, inside and around the g spot of Mr Bungle songs. An expansion of a non idea, pulled from a nebulous thought and turned into something substantial . The only track resembling anything like a traditional song structure is the cut, “3-2-1 Civilisation”. This track actually has a verse that is distorted and heavy and is set to a drum and bass like arrangement with the most pleasing bleeps and digital hiccups. What’s more intriguing is that Pateras insists that all the parts

Ultimate Painting (LP) -Album review

Justin Cornwall November 18, 2014

I sat down for the first time in a while and reviewed an album – tonight’s selection was their self-titled debut LP – Ultimate Painting. 10 tracks of pure modern day acid trip, it took me on a hazy slow boat journey through my past and into my future. The opening track is the name of their LP – and the name of the LP is the name of the band: Ultimate Painting. The jangly guitar and vibe reminds me of a morning where you wake up with no aches, no hangover, completely rested and on your own terms. It’s a refreshing and distantly familiar sound. The band gives off an attitude of not taking themselves too seriously, but serious enough to record this and get it into your ears. I hope they keep that quality – bands like MGMT and Foster The People started to tank after they took themselves too seriously. Ultimate Painting – don’t take yourselves too seriously, ever. The majority of the lyrics seem to be pulled from daily relationships, personal follies and mutual memories from the band. At times the lyrics slur together due to the filters on them, but it’s a niche of it’s own.

Them Howling Bones Record Release at the L.A. Fort

Taylor Wong November 17, 2014

Punk fuckin’ rock! That is how I would describe November 14th’s Them Howling Bones EP release Party at The LA Fort. The LA Fort is this cool little artist collective over in bum fuck LA- I’m serious bums are actually fucking on the street outside The Fort. I have to go into more detail about the venue for you to understand just how punk rock it is. There are absolutely no bathrooms or running water and the entire place smells like BO mixed with shit and bad breath. Last time i was there was there was for Pangea and FIDLAR which was way too legit, minus the part where I was flat tired by a shoe with dog shit on it. Even last night I was approached by a fat crack head prostitute when i was getting ready to drive off in my car. This place just bleeds punk rock. I got to the show a bit early which was perfect since I found parking right in front. I didn’t want to have to pay homeless joe another 5 bucks to watch my car. Getting there early was also smart because they had an open Colt 45 bar for the

The Julie Ruin at The Troubadour: Vagina’s and Surprises.

Danny Baraz November 7, 2014

Kathleen Hanna is an icon. She is the nut crushing, vagina wielding, punk singing, ear ringing legend of a once, DIY militant feminism. A militancy that was absolutely necessary in a 90’s era of violent, male dominated, testosterone injected dominance of the American punk scene. Her band, Bikini Kill, not only gave girls a voice in that void of misogynistic obliviousness but insisted on “Girls to the Front!”. On Thursday, November 6th, her band The Julie Ruin headlined night 6 of Red Bull’s 30 Days in L.A. at the Troubadour. The irony of looking at the big, corporate Red Bull logo behind Hanna all night was not lost on me but if Nirvana could start from the Kill Rockstars record label, to Sub Pop and eventually end up on Geffen, then The Julie Ruin could certainly play a gig with Red Bull Sound Select and retain their integrity. Bookings like this give Red Bull’s music division more and more street cred every day. I arrived at The Troubadour just before Red Bull band Bad Girlfriend took the stage. I was in a foul mood. I was fucking exhausted after covering 5 out of 6 of the 30 Red Bull dates

A Vinyl Junky’s Dream Come True at the Wax Museum in Hollywood

Janky Smooth Central Command November 7, 2014

Aside from straightforward concerts, Red Bull Sound Select is throwing themed parties along their 30 day trek trough L.A. Last night was their Wax On Wax event at Madame Tussauds world famous wax museum. The evening was vinyl themed and featured some local talent to curate DJ sets. Dan Wilcox (KCRW), Dirty Dave, Mayer Hawthorne and the boys from Beach Party all dug through their crates to bring enlightened sets to the night. The night had no cover, just the requirement of RSVP, so it was a packed house in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. Origami Vinyl, Amoeba Records and The Record Parlour – all local record shops – graced the museum rooftop with pop-up shops for the crowd to root around in channel their inner DJ. The Janky Smooth team all walked away with selections and we didn’t spend more than $10 all together! The highlight of the evening, aside from the DJ’s, was most definitely the after hours access into the wax museum. Red Bull also hired on celebrity impersonators to mingle with everyone, which really pulled the night together. Mick Jagger, Dustin Hoffman, Elton John and many of their famous friends were all out and about for