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French Outfit AIR Takes Us On A Moon Safari in San Diego

Grace Dunn October 15, 2025

San Diego, California was in for an ethereal experience transitioning from summer to fall with legendary French band Air on their stunning North American tour. Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoît Dunckel have been on the road for a significant stretch of time earlier this year enchanting crowds with their compositions flowing out of their iconic white cinemascope ratio spaceship. I have been in grand anticipation to catch their clean, nouvelle architectural stage design celebrating their 25th anniversary of “Moon Safari” since I missed their set last year at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. related: Sensory Interference – Thom Yorke At The Orpheum Theatre Once the tour was announced, I originally sought out to photograph their set. To my delightful surprise, I was granted the sumptuous opportunity to capture Air in the written word; like lightning in a bottle. Venturing on a road trip midweek was a blissful escape from Los Angeles to San Diego in preparation for ascension into the cosmos by way of “Moon Safari”. Nestled in an intimate, open air venue, built 1941 into an existing canyon on Montezuma mesa, CalCoast Credit Union Amphitheater greeted patrons with a cozy and alluring aura on this brisk Autumn evening. Walking

Cannibal Corpse at the Majestic Ventura Theater: Butchered By The Beach

Rob Shepyer October 13, 2025

Cannibal Corpse at the Ventura Majestic Theater almost sounds like a sick joke the first time you say it out loud to a local. Why on Earth would the timid, even-keel Pleasantville of the Central Coast host the most violent, vulgar, visceral death metal band of all time? Perhaps it’s because Ventura locals are, somewhere inside, the most violent, vulgar, visceral metalheads in California. For the longest time, this sub-species of Californian, geographically isolated on the Central Coast, never felt represented by the events happening locally. So often, concerts in Ventura ranged from reggae to Grateful Dead covers, with their one outlet for heaviness being Nardcore. Now though, with new booking leadership at the Ventura Majestic Theater, a whole new range of heavy metal bookings is on the horizon; including this October 3, 2025 Cannibal Corpse show. related: Dark Angel Brings Us Back To Our Primal Basics at Majestic Ventura Theater Cannibal Corpse’s autumn tour in particular brought together one of the most insane lineups in modern metal and hardcore. Bridging death metal, grind, and thrash, bands like awe-inspiring fresh blood Fulci, the animalistic, demonically possessed Full of Hell, and toxified-to-the-teeth party speedsters Municipal Waste rounded out the cannibalistic carnage

Nation of Language at Cruel World 2025 by Albert Licano

Take This: Win Tickets to Nation of Language at The Fonda Theater Oct 16th

Janky Smooth Central Command October 13, 2025

Get ready, Los Angeles: Nation of Language is hitting The Fonda Theater on Thursday, October 16. We’re giving away 2 pairs of tickets to the show- you can buy tickets now or enter our giveaway (see below). related: Cruel World 2024- A Legacy Forms in Year 3 at The Rose Bowl Nation of Language has steadily carved a unique lane in modern synth-pop, balancing nostalgia with forward momentum. Their recent work (including the upcoming album Dance Called Memory) finds them refining emotional texture, with shimmering production and lyrics that echo in memory. Expect both fan favorites and fresh tracks to intersect under the Fonda’s lights. The October 16 concert is part of a special two-night run (Oct 15 + 16) at The Fonda — marking a moment for the band to fully immerse Los Angeles in their evolving sound. KCRW is presenting the Oct 16 date. How to Enter the Nation of Language Giveaway Tag a Friend on our “Nation of Language Ticket Giveaway” post on our socials @jankysmooth and make sure you both like the post. Make sure you’re both following us @jankysooth Winner will be announced on Wednesday, Oct 15th at Noon pacific time. related: Glass Beams

Janky Fresh Friday: New Albums from Mobb Deep and Sanguisugabogg

Danny Ryan October 10, 2025

Welcome to Janky Fresh Friday- the busiest day of the week for artists and labels to drop newly released music. Check in every Friday for a fresh squeeze. Sanguisugabogg: Hideous Aftermath (released October 10, 2025): Century Media Records Sanguisugabogg has been my favorite modern metal band for the past few years, with their absolutely masterful craft of combining the sounds of classic 90’s death metal with the attitude of the modern hardcore scene to create an environment of absolute chaotic violence at their live shows. Death metal/Slam metal have been crossing over into the hardcore scene much more within the past year, but unfortunately this album does seem like it’s a mark for the beginning of the end for this collision of worlds. The new album “Hideous Aftermath” is significantly slower than the previous ones, and it takes itself much more seriously. I was actually relieved upon hearing the first breakdown of the album, as I almost forgot I was listening to a Sanguisugabogg album with how long it took for the crowd-killing moments to arrive. related: Sound And Fury 2023 – The Stage Dive Will Never Die The casual metalhead who sees Sanguisugabogg at a large festival while

L7 Celebrate 40 Years w/ Lunachicks and Friends at The Belasco

Danny Baraz October 7, 2025

The Belasco’s air was sticky, buzzing, electric- like static before a tornado on Friday Oct 3rd. L7 and Lunachicks had a gig in Downtown Los Angeles. Those bands shared the stage again, for the first time in decades, in what felt like a life event for everyone involved for L7’s Fast and Frightening 40 Years Anniversary show. As much as I love Riot grrrl scene, the L7 legacy always stood on it’s own and I never appreciated pundits who would lump every hardcore girl under the Riot grrrl label. L7 had their own brand of feminism which included the Rock For Choice festivals that spanned over a decade and I include the times I saw them perform on the lawn of the Federal building in Westwood for causes that varied from saving rainforests, to legalizing cannabis at a time when people were still doing long prison sentences for the plant. But what I appreciated most about L7 was that they fucking shred. Say everything and anything else you want about them, every single one of them, at the top of their craft amongst their peers. And that was still the case as of October 3rd. related: L7 Stop Pretending They’re Dead

Take This: Win 2 Tickets To Sextile at The Novo Oct 11th

Janky Smooth Central Command October 6, 2025

Sextile is taking over the Novo in Los Angeles on Friday, October 11th. Sextile are hitting the stage with their signature post-punk fury, backed by hypnotic synths and relentless energy. With Automatic providing support, this show promises to be one of the most kinetic, dance-fueled nights of the year for fans of darkwave, punk, and electronic rebellion. You can buy tickets now or see below to enter our ticket giveaway. related: The Horrific Beauty of A Place To Bury Strangers To Enter: Tag a friend on our Sextile Ticket Giveaway Post on any social platform @jankysmooth Make sure you both follow Janky Smooth Winner will be announced on Friday, October 10th at Noon Pacific Sextile have become one of LA’s most vital live acts, merging the ferocity of punk with the pulse of the club scene. Their explosive performances blur the line between rave and riot — and with Automatic’s hypnotic grooves setting the stage, this Novo show is bound to sell out fast. Recent News (2025) Sextile have been lighting up stages around the world in support of their acclaimed album Push, continuing to expand their sound into rawer, more euphoric territory. Automatic joins the lineup with their sharp,

Janky Fresh Friday, Oct 3rd- AFI and Snooper

Janky Fresh Friday: New Albums From AFI and Snõõper

Danny Ryan October 3, 2025

Welcome to Janky Fresh Friday- the busiest day of the week for artists and labels to drop newly released music. Check in every Friday for a fresh squeeze. AFI: Silver Bleeds The Black Sun… (released October 3, 2025): Run For Cover Records AFI has recently been in music news more than they have been in decades. A major aspect of this is frontman Davey Havok drastically changing his physical appearance recently, looking like he’d be more likely to front an indie folk group than a goth or hardcore or alternative band. Are those AFI‘s genres? It’s hard to pin them down to a specific sound, as they are constantly evolving and reinventing themselves throughout their career. related: Cruel World 2024 – A Legacy Forms at The Rose Bowl Today’s release of “Silver Bleeds The Black Sun…” marks the beginning of a new era for them, shifting much more into synthesizer based goth music and darkwave rather than their roots as a rock band. This shouldn’t be a surprise considering Havok’s side-projects Blaqk Audio and Dreamcar were hinting that he’s wanted to head in this direction for a long time. Even AFI’s last couple of albums were heavily incorporating goth and

Music Video Premiere: Human Issue-INSIDE ft. Crow Jane (Director’s Cut)

Janky Smooth Central Command October 3, 2025

We are proud to premier the new music video for “Inside featuring Crow Jane” from California peace punk band, Human Issue. Human Issue is a politically charged punk band that formed in 2021, uniting musicians from across California and Texas. Fronted by drummer and songwriter Hunter Martinez from the San Francisco Bay Area, the group also features members hailing from San Antonio, Orange County, and the Inland Empire. Their diverse backgrounds and shared ethos give Human Issue a raw, urgent sound rooted in the tradition of peace punk while pushing forward with modern urgency. related: Circle Jerks Throw Party For Keith’s Birthday at Hollywood Palladium Though relatively new, Human Issue has quickly gained attention in underground circles for their uncompromising message and relentless live performances. Embracing the DIY ethic, they’ve carved out their place as a vital voice in modern punk, proudly accepting the label of “peace punks” as both identity and mission. Human Issue – Q&A with Hunter Martinez Q: Where do Human Issue originate from, both geographically and culturally? Hunter Martinez: I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area. One member’s from San Antonio, Texas, and the others are from Orange County and the Inland Empire. Some people call

Ruining Our Makeup with Samia at The Fonda Theater

Michelle Evans October 3, 2025

I love being uncomfortable. Uncomfortable movies. Uncomfortable books. Uncomfortable art. Uncomfortable conversations. I’ve become anxiously attached to the little wasps in my chest who buzz too loudly and flap around in awkward situations. But finding comfort in the uncomfortable comes at a cost: ugly doesn’t scare you anymore. You even start to seek it out. This is where Samia comes in. Samia steals all that discomfort, all that ugly, right out from your chest. As a songwriter she is an alchemist, spinning your insecurities into a quilt. The kind of quilt your grandmother wraps around you while you read comics at her house as your parents are downtown signing divorce papers. You know the kind. On the warm night of September 19, 2025 night in Hollywood, Samia steps coyly onto the stage of the Fonda Theatre. The crowd roars relentlessly as she seems taken aback – it’s clear how deeply she is needed tonight, right here in this moment. related: Photo Recap – Ethel Cain At The Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever She starts the set with “Triptych,” a song from her debut 2020 album, “The Baby,” with lyrics so abruptly intimate that listening would feel like a violation if

The Lost Coverage Of Substance Fest 2022- Los Angeles Theater

Janky Smooth Central Command October 1, 2025

With Substance Fest 2025 quickly approaching on November 7th/8th in it’s return to The Belasco, it has forced us to look back. Amidst the exponential increase in the volume of content this year, in the scramble to preview this year’s Substance, we uncovered the unpublished coverage from a special year of the festival- Substance 2022. Laying in the debris of the pandemic, in the smoldering ashes of this music blog were the photos of Albert Licano- mostly unseen by the outside world. As we all rise again to attend or cover Substance 2025, let us not forget the elation and gratitude of the after years in which we thought live music would never be the same again. This was one of those years. Between October 21-22, 2022, Los Angeles played host to Substance Fest 2022, aka “LA’s Dark Underground Festival,” a two-night celebration of post-punk, industrial, darkwave, goth, synth pop, and ebm, et al. Held at the majestic Los Angeles Theatre, the fest brought together a collective lineup of established underground legends, emerging acts, DJs, visual art, and immersive environments. In this look back, we’ll break down the experience: the venue, lineups, standout performances, production, crowd vibes, strengths, and areas

Circle Jerks Throw Birthday Party For Keith at The Hollywood Palladium

Danny Baraz September 29, 2025

On Friday, September 19, 2025, the Circle Jerks played a show at the Hollywood Palladium in honor of Keith Morris’ birthday and he invited some friends. The Circle Jerks, Ceremony, Negative Approach, and Rocket From The Crypt- a nice final touch for connoisseurs. It’s the kind of lineup that makes you shake your head and laugh at how good we have it when a night like this comes together. The story of the night was celebrating the birth of Keith Morris with all his friends and his band, the Circle Jerks. Somehow, at 70 years old, there is no noticeable decline. In fact, the eye test reveals that he’s thriving. It would be illogical to suggest he doesn’t suffer from some unseen ailment that comes with wear and tear on the human body. But… if his shoulder hurt, his hemorrhoid was flaring up, his arthritic pinkie knuckle burned, or he had to piss every 20 minutes at the age of 70- there was no hint of any of that. As far as I could see, his feet were planted firmly, his diaphragm engaged, and there was no pee-pee dance. But there was most definitely joy. related: Janky Smooth Interviews Keith Morris

TAKE THIS! Carcass And Nails At The Wiltern-Ticket Giveaway

Janky Smooth Central Command September 27, 2025

Carcass is playing the legendary Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles on Wednesday, October 1st. You can buy tickets now or see below to enter our ticket giveaway. Carcass are wrapping up their North American run in support of their latest release, delivering one of the most intense extreme metal lineups of the year. With Nails, Brujeria, Necrot, and Mongrel on the bill, this show is a must for fans of death metal, grindcore, and heavy music of all kinds. See you at The Wiltern! related: Obituary at The Bellwether- 35 Years of Cause Of Death We are giving away a pair of tickets to see Carcass, Nails, Brujeria, Necrot, and Mongrel at The Wiltern To Enter: Tag a friend on our Carcass Ticket Giveaway Post on any social platform @jankysmooth Make sure you both follow Janky Smooth Winner will be announced on Monday, September 29th at Noon Pacific Carcass, the legendary British death metal pioneers, have been redefining extreme music since the late 1980s. Known for genre-shaping albums like Heartwork and Surgical Steel, their live shows are ferocious, surgical, and unforgettable. This Los Angeles date at The Wiltern promises to be one of their heaviest nights yet. Recent News (2025)

John Maus by Albert Licano - Janky Fresh Fridays

Janky Fresh Friday: New Albums From John Maus and PeelingFlesh

Danny Ryan September 26, 2025

Welcome to Janky Fresh Friday- the busiest day of the week for artists and labels to drop newly released music. Check in every Friday for a fresh squeeze. John Maus: Later Than You Think (released September 26, 2025): Young Records John Maus’ new album Later Than You Think is a huge deal. Like a really huge, massive deal. Personally, his last release in 2011 We Must Become the Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves was a formative album during my high school years and one of my first introductions to goth music or synth pop outside of the mainstream. Almost 15 years later and he’s back with a vengeance; a deeply changed man on a spiritual level, but still bringing the lo-fi dark and gloomy atmosphere to the dancefloor. Don’t miss John Maus live this October: Observatory OC – October 20, 2025 The Belasco – October 22, 2025 The lyrical themes have certainly changed quite a bit from 2011’s “Cop Killer” to today with “I Hate Antichrist” and this tone of religious awakening can be felt throughout his newest release. As early as the second track we get lyrics like “Satan, Satan, Satan lies. Turns everything into fucking spite”. You could

Slowing The World Down with MJ Lenderman at The Shrine

Danny Ryan September 26, 2025

MJ Lenderman is one of the most prominent key players in the alternative country movement, and his September 11, 2025 performance at The Shrine Auditorium showed just how big of a name he is amongst younger people and country-folk enthusiasts alike. I don’t believe there’s even a debate on whether country music is currently one of the most dominating cultural forces in America. It goes even beyond the music, with Southern aesthetics like mullets, flannels, showy belt-buckles, and cowboy boots taking over hipster-infested areas like Highland Park and Silverlake. While the love for the genre is actually on its way to becoming more equal between urban and rural America at this point in time, the artists respected between these two demographics could not vary more. While mainstream country artists like Morgan Wallen aren’t really talked about with reverence amongst music fans in LA, there is a new wave of alternative country artists with more emotional and poetic folk influence that are considered superstars amongst aspiring artists looking for a singer-songwriter scene to be part of. featured image: Michelle Evans related: Courtney Barnett at The Roxy – How To Make A Rockstar MJ Lenderman is one of the biggest names of

Avant-Garde Headbanging with The Armed at The Roxy

Rob Shepyer September 24, 2025

Seeing The Armed at The Roxy on September 20, 2025 was not just a whim- for me it was a necessity. Whenever the Armed play in Los Angeles, I make it a point to attend. Their concerts feel like rare glimpses into a future world. With their latest tour stop supported by Prostitute, another heavy and unpredictable band, I wanted to break down not only the performance but also why The Armed matter so deeply and why their most recent album, THE FUTURE IS HERE AND EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE DESTROYED, truly rules. related: One Friday Night In Hell- Show Me The Body and Twitching Tongues at The Regent The Armed have become my favorite modern band. I am not sure how it happened; I can’t always control what I gravitate toward. Perhaps they filled the vacuum left by The Dillinger Escape Plan, a band whose live shows once stood as the gold standard for ferocity and unpredictability. Perhaps they were the only group writing anthems with lyrics powerful enough to resonate like “Sport of Form” off Perfect Saviors, my favorite album of 2023. That track, which ends with a peaking sing-along verse of “Doesn’t Anyone Even Know You? Does

Dark Angel Brings Us To Our Primal Basics at Majestic Ventura Theater

Rob Shepyer September 19, 2025

Dark Angel at the Majestic Ventura Theater on September 6, 2025 might have been just another stop on a long national tour for the many iconic bands appearing on this monster show—from Sacred Reich to Hirax—but for the locals of California’s Central Coast, it was much more than that. For Ventura’s own hardcore and stoner metal scenes, it was a night to raise the speed, volume, and intensity of their jams alongside some of Los Angeles’s finest. It was an event that felt like a genuine summit of the underground, a night where the past and present of extreme music converged. If you’re a fan of extreme sounds—whether punk, death metal, hardcore, or black metal—you owe it to yourself to attend thrash metal shows from time to time. They act as a palate cleanser, a way to reset your taste and senses back to the primal basics. Thrash metal, at its core, is one of the most fundamental heavy metal art forms, a template that inspired so many of us to follow a path deeper into the underground. For every genre that has splintered off since, thrash remains the raw power source, the musical bedrock that feeds the rest. related:

Mac Demarco at The Greek Theater by David Smith

Mac Demarco at The Greek Theater: The Last Salad Days of Summer

Dave Unbuckled September 16, 2025

It was the last weekend of the summer, and Mac DeMarco had managed to pack a 25-song set into this Saturday, August 30th performance (the second consecutive day of three) at The Greek Theater. DeMarco is currently touring across 17 countries and has 82 upcoming concerts. This was DeMarco’s follow-up set of appearances at The Greek after performing July of last year for a similar three-day stretch. Mac Demarco arrived on stage to a chill round of applause, his crowd already well versed in the etiquette of his intimate sets. Demarco’s career spanning show included most of the tracks off his newly released album, Guitar, as well as fan favorites: Salad Days, For The First Time and a pre-encore show closer: Chamber Of Reflection. related: The 4th Wave Of Garage Rock In Los Angeles – A Retrospective The new songs showcase Demarco’s ability to give a classic croon, while maintaining the full attention of his adoring mostly-female Latina audience. Demarco bravely began debuting the sets new songs earlier this week, which gave the audience just enough time to learn the words to new fan favorites “Shining”, “Home” and “Rock And Roll”, though, not surprisingly he got a much louder reception

Take This: Win Two Tickets To See The Armed at The Roxy 9/20

Janky Smooth Central Command September 16, 2025

The Armed is playing the legendary Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip on Saturday, September 20. You can buy tickets now or see below to enter our ticket giveaway. The Armed are wrapping up their September U.S. tour in support of their most recent album, the critically acclaimed The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed. With Prostitute opening, the two bands have put together a fierce lineup for fans of experimental underground music across hardcore and post-punk genres. related: Desert Daze 2022: 10 Years in the Evolution of a Music Scene We are giving away a pair of tickets to see The Armed and Prostitute at The Roxy Theatre To Enter: Like and Tag A Friend On Our Armed Ticket Giveaway Post on any social media platform Make sure you both follow Janky Smooth Winner Will Be Announced on Friday, September 18th at Noon Pacific. The Armed is a Detroit-based experimental post-hardcore collective made up of rotating members including Tony Wolski and Cara Drolshagen. With their 2025 album The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed, the band explores themes of war, media, and social purity. Known for wild shows, the group often surfs

Osees at Teragram Ballroom by Albert Licano

Osees at theTeragam- A Rose By Any Other Name

Danny Baraz September 5, 2025

I had still only seen Osees under 10 times the first time I thought about missing one of their shows- I think I was offered free Lakers tickets- good seats. But the team wasn’t that good that year so I opted for the gig- which was the last time I saw Thee Oh Sees at The Teragram Ballroom. What I realized that night was that unlike the Lakers, every Oh Sees show is just as good as the first- I’ve never seen any composition of the band under any name have an off night. How is that possible? related: The 4th Wave Of Garage Rock- A Retrospective Sometimes, I imagine John Dwyer in a basement beating his drummers when they get off tempo. Like some Rock and Roll Kobe Bryant not allowing anyone who works with him to show any less passion than he in his preparedness for perfection and greatness in his craft. An artist and a scientist, taking the mathematics of art and doubling down to provide a more powerful experience. An endless human algorithm of DIY spewing content. He is not a prototype but he is a prolific model. related: Thee Oh Sees And The Practical Application

United States of Horror at The Shed-Echo Park

The 4th Wave of Garage Rock in Los Angeles-A Retrospective

Brent Smith September 3, 2025

Those of us lucky enough to be in L.A. for the 4th wave of garage rock in the 2010s suddenly find ourselves mourning the fact that it’s gone … long receded. We hardly even noticed. What the fuck happened? words: Brent Smith related: Ty Segall And The Secret Show- A New Tradition in Los Angeles I see them around- skulking the Zebulon smoking patio or pounding cheap beer at the Taix bar in motorcycle jackets and old band shirts (that their friends are in) and black denim and dirty Chucks. The weary look of defeat in their bloodshot eyes as we see each other (through the endless, bobbing sea of Benson Boone clones) and head-nod and ask if we met at that one Desert Daze when Iggy headlined. I see them around. The Echo Park refugees of the 2010s wave of garage rock. related: Over 10 Years of Desert Daze Archives And yes, this is my declaration that the 2010s merit a mention in the annals of American garage rock — ’60s, ’80s, ’00s … ’10s. The Fourth Wave. If you’re some music nerd who disagrees you can go fuck yourself. You couldn’t swing a dead cat on Sunset without

Acid Bath at Hollywood Palladium: Venus Blues and Bayou Sludge

Rob Shepyer August 29, 2025

Acid Bath was the one band no one thought would ever reunite. They were a flash in the pan at one point, considered a glitch in heavy metal history—yet simultaneously, they were the band everyone wanted to be and emulate, the band that inspired subgenres from the edges of extremity to the depths of doom and across the entire spectrum of stoner rock and roll. That’s why Acid Bath’s show at the Hollywood Palladium on August 22nd was charged with much more power and gravitas than a typical reunion. It was a moment written in stone, acknowledging that the kings of the New Orleans heavy music scene would one day return to their rightful thrones. The anticipation had been building for years among fans who never truly believed this day would come. The venue itself seemed to understand the weight of the occasion. The Hollywood Palladium, with its storied history of hosting legendary performances, provided the perfect backdrop for what would become a defining moment in heavy music. As fans filed into the historic theater, there was an electric tension in the air—a mixture of disbelief, excitement, and the kind of reverence typically reserved for religious experiences. related – Memoirs

Glass Beams at Ventura Music Hall: Desert in a Bottle

Rob Shepyer August 28, 2025

This has been a psychedelic week for me, still feeling the afterglow of seeing Pigs x7, so before I could enter this new trip closer to home, I needed to sober up off the lingering sonic buzz. I wanted to clear out the leftover distortion rattling in my head so I could step into the Ventura Music Hall with ears and mind ready to feel the pure, authentic high off the sound of Glass Beams. related: Pigs x7 Launch North American Tour At Lodge Room Glass Beams plays in the tradition of distorting and disrupting traditional, exotic world music into modernized, minimalist psychedelia. Their music doesn’t need to shout, roar, or crash like a doom riff to get you there; it works in repetition, mood, and layering. It works in space. They aren’t the first to attempt this blend and they won’t be the last, but at the moment, they feel like the only band making traditional world music vibrations consumable for folks interested in dancing on clouds, instead of just headbanging in basements. Shows like this are rare in Ventura, though they strike a nerve in both artist and audience that no other city quite can. Ventura has always

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs at The Lodge Room by Lexi Bonin

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Launch North American Tour at Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer August 27, 2025

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, OR Pigsx7 launched their North American tour from the Lodge Room in August, staining the sacred planks of the venue with more sweat and abandon than bands are typically used to expelling throughout a set. For those not in the blissful know, Pigs x7 are a beloved heavy band that’s been adopted by the LA psych scene, one able to discharge hallucinatory spores from their pores during their intense performances that induce pure rock and roll rapture. Their songs breakdown the same way your body does when in their crosshairs. And just when you’re completely destroyed and a pile of rubble before them, they find a way to engineer your rock and roll rebirth in their image. How this crossover from psych to metal took place was a mystery for me and the inspiration that made me trek out to their show in the hopes of catching an earful of insight into what sonic sinew connected their sound to the standard Desert Daze LA hipster. Somewhere between Sabbath worship and The Doors, Pigs x7 managed to straddle the line of two fanbases that, while sharing some DNA, rarely overlap this seamlessly. related: Desert Daze

Midnight And Ghoul at The Poor Kids Mansion

Janky Smooth Central Command August 22, 2025

If you’ve never been to a sanctioned or unsanctioned show or event at The Poor Kids Mansion in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of L.A., can you even consider yourself a part of the punk and metal scenes of Los Angeles? Of course you can. But if music scenes were like levels on a video game, this would be one of the challenges along the way to some abstract street cred needed to complete the level. On top of a dead end, hilltop street just off Broadway, is an address that has been made public over the years but I still hesitate to mention. In a somewhat dilapidated 120 year old, 4 story estate whose windows have one of the best views of downtown in the city, is a residence and clubhouse called the Poor Kids Mansion. In the backyard you can see punk rock, thrash and sometimes, backyard wrestling- complete with a pro wrestling ring. There is also a ring inside the house- three of them, in fact. And the ring master of this circus is Russ. He and his brother Dougie are the Poor Kids. There are more Poor Kids but if you say that name, Russ and Dougie

Blood Incantation at The Wiltern by Albert Licano

Blood Incantation Live at The Wiltern, Los Angeles

Danny Baraz August 19, 2025

The Los Angeles stop of the Blood Incantation 2025 Absolute Else Tour was more than just another date—it was the climactic finale of their North American run and one of the most unforgettable metal shows of the year. On August 7, 2025, The Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles’ Koreatown transformed into a cosmic gateway as the Denver quartet delivered a marathon performance that fused progressive death metal, krautrock atmospherics, and spatial ambient noise. From the moment fans entered the art-deco grandeur of The Wiltern, the anticipation was electric. The show sold out weeks in advance, and the bill reflected Blood Incantation’s expansive vision. Krallice opened the night as the experimental black metal heir apparent. Prog-metal icons Cynic elevated the night with a career-spanning journey through tech metal and jazz-inflected experimentation. Last but not least, ambient pioneer Steve Roach offered a rare live set that immersed the crowd in soundscapes of drones and deep cosmic resonance. I thought the order of the bands was peculiar but I can’t say I’d complain. By the time Blood Incantation took the stage, the audience had already traveled through decades of extreme and progressive music and even an extended regenerative period during Steve Roach’s set.

MSPAINT at the Lodge Room by Taylor Wong

MSPAINT and Lip Critic at Lodge Room- Disturbing The Peace

Danny Baraz August 14, 2025

On an undersold Thursday night at the Lodge Room on a quiet night in Highland Park, MSPAINT made their tour stop in Los Angeles to support the No Separation EP. They brought with them Pat and the Pissers and a band that caught my attention at the end of 2024, Lip Critic. I really love MSPAINT but I traveled cross town to see what the fuck this weird, experimental band Lip Critic would sound like live and how the fuck they made the sounds that had been coming out of my speaker the last 6 months. I arrived in time for a REALLY great band out of Indianapolis- Pat and the Pissers. They are a interesting Descendents punk mix of confrontational, charismatic and borderline technical players. Bass player Kilmer stood out immediately but I quickly realized that the entire band was tight and lead singer Alex Beckman was born to sing at people. related: Model/Actriz- Pirouette New Album/Bend Bodies/Break Brains At the end of an extended schmoke break between sets, we heard strange rumblings and sounds coming from the venue. We rushed upstairs to find the 4 Lip Critic lunatics thrashing about the stage, 30 seconds into their set with

Das Bunker Summer Massive at Catch One by Taylor Wong

Enter Das Bunker: Summer Massive 2025 at Catch One

Danny Baraz August 12, 2025

One of our favorite club nights of the year, Das Bunker’s Summer Massive at Catch One was on August, 2nd 2025. Less than 2 weeks have passed but the mind and the heart have a hard time letting go. This post is mostly a photo recap but it’s also a shout out to the Das Bunker team for continuously producing events that bring all the generations of the scene together at this generation’s clubhouse, Catch One (rip Jewel). Along with Bar Sinister, Catch One has become the defacto collection point for those who mingle and dance in the dark and industrial arts- it has been thus regardless of changes of ownership through the decades. related: Pixel Grip, Spike Hellis and BLO Find Refuge at Das Bunker The chambers and pockets and staircases of Catch One were writhing with denizens deep into the guts of the venue while the walls wobbled with bass deep into the night. The hardwood floors of the main room and foyer had a particularly nice bounce to them underneath our boots. Every room had a DJ- mostly scene favorites with an appearance by the high priest of Cum Metal, Johnny Health. related: HEALTH at the Grammy

Deltron3030 at Bellwether by Taylor Wong

Deltron 3030 Re-Unite At The Bellwether for 25 Year Anniversary

Taylor Wong August 7, 2025

The thing about seeing Deltron 3030 live is that it’s not just a concert—it’s a time machine. Not one of those glitchy, steam‑punk contraptions with brass pipes and smoke pouring out the back, but a sleek, fully automated warp gate run by a mad scientist producer, a turntablist wizard, and a hip‑hop storyteller who sounds like he’s rapping dispatches from the year 3030 straight into your eardrums. On Friday night, The Bellwether didn’t just host a rap show; it hosted a landing. This was the first of two sold‑out LA dates on the 25th anniversary tour for Deltron 3030, a debut, self titled album that’s not just music for me—it’s a life marker. related: Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw 10 Year Anniversary Intersects w/ Chromakopia Number 1 My cousin handed me the Deltron 3030 record when I was 13 years old. I still remember the look in his eyes—half‑mischief, half‑knowing—when he slid the jewel case across the table like contraband. Up until then, rap for me meant whatever MTV and Power 106 were pumping out: a lot of chart‑chasing hooks, a lot of swagger, not much in the way of world‑building. But the Deltron 303 album… it was cinematic. It was

Basement by Joe Calixto at Sound and Fury 2025

Sound And Fury 2025: Everybody Spin Kick!

Danny Baraz August 1, 2025

“Everybody spin kick!” was the order given in the first 4 bars of the first breakdown by Mindforce frontman Jay Petagine,Saturday headliners at the Cream Stage at Sound and Fury 2025. featured image- Basement: Joe Calixto It was the first time I was IN the pit at Sound and Fury 2025 on Saturday at Exposition Park and not backstage or out on the periphery- the difference between a nice view of the ocean or swimming in it. I use boxing’s “crab defense” during these explosions. I recommend it highly. It’s allowed me to play defense and even though the best defense is a good offense, I don’t like physically hurting people as much as I used to. It made me think of the meme about hardcore dudes in the pit past 40 and the tendency toward excessive violence toward children… and this feels like the perfect platform to explain this cultural phenomenon… related: Relive Every Sound and Fury for the Last 10 Years The first time I got hit in the head with an errant fist for fun and not fighting was in my late 30’s- not old for the world but certainly old in a music scene. Old enough

Mason Manson Self Releases First Full Length Album: Masonic Guide

Janky Smooth Central Command July 28, 2025

Who is Mason Manson? Have you seen him? What is Masonic Guide? Mason Manson and his first full length written, produced, performed and self released album dropped this past Saturday, July 26th. It’s called Masonic Guide and it is has something that very few artists are able to produce in the modern era- it is a complete body of work from start to finish with theme and continuity in every track. MASON MANSON · MASONIC GUIDE Mason Manson is a young producer we started following after we heard one of his beats on the Dirtybutt album, Analog Horror Core released in 2022. Since then, he has dropped multiple drum kit patches and presets with his signature distorted and dystopian sound. Some call it extreme trap, some people call it rap core or incorporate the term “emo” into it’s naming convention. Whatever you want to call it, it appears that Mason Manson also has something to say and he says it in this language. On the periphery of the Deathnote Inc scene, we hope to see him play live in that context soon. related: Nature World Night Out- Bridging the gap between hip hop and hardcore Accompanying Masonic Guide is the video

Take This: Win A Pair of Tickets to See MSPAINT at Lodge Room on 8/10

Janky Smooth Central Command July 25, 2025

MSPAINT is playing the Lodge Room in Highland Park on Sunday, August 10th. You can buy tickets now or see below to enter our ticket giveaway. MSPAINT are currently on a U.S. summer tour (July–August 2025), accompanied by Lip Critic, Draag, and Pat & the Pissers . They recently played in Washington, D.C. on July 17, 2025, continuing their rise as a vital voice in contemporary punk with a message of collective empowerment amid global crises. related: Scowl at 1720 Sell Out The Venue But Not Their Souls We are giving away a pair of tickets to see MSPAINT and Lip Critic at The Lodge Room To Enter: 1. Tag A Friend On Our MSPAINT Ticket Giveaway Post on Instagram 2. Make sure you both follow Janky Smooth 3. Winner Will Be Announced on Thursday, August 7th at Noon Pacific. MSPAINT is a four‑piece band formed in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 2019. Its members include mononymous vocalist Deedee, synth player Nick Panella, bassist Randy Riley, and drummer Quinn Mackey. Notably, the group intentionally avoids guitars—opting instead for a lineup of vocals, synth, bass, and drums, a decision that underpins their unique sound. They debuted with a self‑titled EP in March 2020,

Take This: Win 10 Tickets To See Wavves at Fonda Theater 7/25

Janky Smooth Central Command July 18, 2025

Wavves are coming! Janky Smooth is giving away 10 tickets for the Wavves show at the Fonda Theater 7/25. You can buy tickets now, or to enter, see below. In 2025, Wavves is riding a fresh wave of momentum. The band recently announced a new album titled Freak Frequency, set to release in Fall 2025 via Ghost Ramp, the label of Wavves mastermind, Nathan Williams. The first single, “Burn Out Bright,” dropped in July and features a cleaner, more refined sound while retaining Wavves’ rebellious spirit. related: Welcome To The Freakshow- Wavves at The Lodge Room Wavves are currently in the midst of their summer tour across North America and they are coming back to Los Angeles’ Fonda Theater a week from today. To enter the contest: Find the original post on Instagram Like the post Tag a friend Winner/s will be announced on Wednesday, July 23rd at Noon pacific. Stay tuned to Wavves’ official social channels and Ghost Ramp for updates on upcoming music, merch drops, and tour dates. related: King Tuff Unloads His Clip For Farewell Show At The Lodge Room Wavves is an American rock band from San Diego, California, best known for their blend of lo-fi

ALL LEATHER - Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island (Double LP anthology)

ALL LEATHER- A Post Punk Re-Release By THREEONEG Out Today

Janky Smooth Central Command July 11, 2025

ALL LEATHER – Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island (Double LP anthology) the remixed, remastered and updated anthology of the band’s music to be re-released TODAY, July 11th on Three One G Records. Originally released by Dim Mak almost 20 years ago with a studio budget of $7,000, Justin Pearson told idioteq.com that a dispute over royalties had arisen after after one of the tracks had sold nearly 2 million downloads and Dim Mak, owned by Steve Aoki stopped reporting royalties. Was this exciting Justin Pearson project squashed before it’s full impact was felt? Stream- ALL LEATHER: Amateur Surgery On Half-Hog Abortion Island (Double LP anthology) “The band’s debt to Dim Mak for our recording has doubled over the years of not being accounted to, just after we had one of our songs sell 1,940,000+ downloads (not streams, download digital sales, as it was pre streaming). However, the accounting showed that we got $320 for that one track’s sales, yet still owe the label $14K, twice the budget we started with” Justin Pearson explained to us in an email. related: Swing Heil- Anti Fascist Hardcore Punks Swing Kids Return to Los Angeles related: Three One G Radiation- Deaf Club at The

Relive Every Sound And Fury Festival For The Last 10 Years

Janky Smooth Central Command July 7, 2025

For almost two decades, Sound and Fury Festival has embodied the past, present, and future of most fast or heavy and especially fast AND heavy genres- particularly hardcore punk. Evolving from a grassroots DIY event into a world-renowned gathering of global talent, the festival has grown in scale and vision while staying true to its roots in chaos, catharsis, and community. No barriers- literally, to this day, almost nothing separates the bands and fans. Each year marks a new chapter—not just in the festival’s story but in the ongoing history of hardcore itself. Here’s a look back at the defining Sound and Fury Festival moments as covered by Janky Smooth, year by year (2016 on) from small rooms to massive fields, from secret side shows to legendary sets- followed by a complete schedule for Sound and Fury Festival 2025 Featured Image: Have Heart by Albert Licano Sound and Fury 2016: Coming of Age at The Regent Summary: 2016 was a defining year. After years of venue instability, Sound and Fury found a new home at The Regent Theater in Downtown L.A., marking a turning point in both professionalism and presentation. The lineup straddled eras and styles, and the atmosphere felt

Jonathan Richman Tour Starts July 1st 2025

Jonathan Richman Tour Starts Today And New Album Streaming July 4th

Danny Baraz July 1, 2025

Indie Legend Jonathan Richman is Dropping his Rare Catalog Online and Readies New Album “Only Frozen Sky Anyway” Ahead of July 4 Digital Launch and the Jonathan Richman Tour, which starts today. One of the most beloved cult figures in American music, Jonathan Richman is back with a major announcement that’s thrilling longtime fans. The eternally whimsical singer-songwriter—known for his poetic minimalism, heartfelt lyricism, and dry humor—has revealed a Fall 2025 North American tour and an unexpected treasure trove of rare albums now available for streaming for the very first time. related: “It’s Important To Be Sincere”- Jonathan Richman at The Monday Club Richman, best known as the frontman of The Modern Lovers, and for writing the timeless indie classic “I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar,” is in the midst of a cultural revival. From being featured in HBO’s hit series Euphoria to earning praise from a new generation of artists and fans, Richman’s music has never felt more alive—or more accessible. I, myself fell in love with Jonathan Richman for the first time when the Farrelly Bros featured him prominently in 1998’s, “There’s Something About Mary”. As each decade passes, Jonathan Richman transforms more from a smug referenced

Take This: Win 10 Tickets To See John Garcia (Kyuss) At The Fonda

Janky Smooth Central Command June 26, 2025

We are giving away 10 (TEN) TICKETS to see John Garcia of Kyuss at The Fonda Theater on June 27th, 2025- You can Buy Tickets Now or see below for details. Desert rock pioneer John Garcia has launched a 2025 North American tour, performing iconic tracks from Kyuss, Slo Burn, Hermano, and his solo catalog. The tour kicks off June 26 in San Diego and runs through July 13, with a desert climax on July 19 at Pioneertown’s Pappy & Harriet’s—all with support from psychedelic-rock duo Telekinetic Yeti . The touring band features John Bennet (guitar), Billy Cordell (bass), and longtime drummer Greg Saenz. To Enter Our Contest Join our newsletter at Jankysmooth.com- it pops up every time you navigate to the website. Tag a friend on any of our social media posts @jankysmooth for the John Garcia giveaway. Winners will be chosen at 1pm pacific time on Friday, June 27th. We might give all 10 tickets to one person or give 5 pairs away. Good luck! related content: Psycho Las Vegas 2021- Hell or High Roller John Garcia (born September 4, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and a foundational voice in desert rock. Raised in Palm Springs, California, he rose to prominence

Tune-yards at the Bellwether by Lexi Bonin

tUnE yArDs Light Up Los Angeles Past Curfew At The Bellwether

Janky Smooth Central Command June 19, 2025

On June 11, 2025, the art-pop rebels known as tUnE yArDs lit up The Bellwether in Los Angeles with a performance that was equal parts dance party, peaceful protest rally, and spiritual awakening in a swirly ice cream cone. The sold-out show was a centerpiece of the band’s long-awaited 2025 tour in support of their sixth studio album, Better Dreaming—a record that is already being hailed as one of their most powerful statements yet. But the tone of the city outside couldn’t help but seep it’s way into the minds of everyone inside the venue. The voice and the conscience of tUnE yArDs, Merrill Garbus spoke for the audience when she expressed solidarity with Los Angeles and how good it was that we could all be together, to dance together and let go for a few hours. Prophetic gratitude, indeed. related: Youth Code Break The ICE at The Echo- Yours, With Malice The Bellwether Show: A Night of Radical Joy Taking the stage just after 9 p.m., Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner launched into a hypnotic, high-energy set that spanned the full arc of their discography—from the raw chaos of early work to the groove-drenched anthems of their latest LP.

Cypress Hill at Cali Vibes by David Smith

Cali Vibes Festival 2025- Peace in Long Beach

Dave Unbuckled June 18, 2025

The sun shined bright all weekend at the 2025 Cali Vibes Festival, where tens of thousands of music lovers gathered in downtown Long Beach to escape the tension of nearby LA protests and soak in the mellow vibes of Marina Green Park for a melodic respite from all the unrest. Now in its fourth year, this Southern California reggae and hip-hop festival drew a massive crowd of roughly 75,000 attendees—greeted on Ocean Blvd by protesters waving Mexican flags and holding signs that read “Fuck ICE”. Despite the potential for tension, the crowd remained peaceful, mellowed out by good vibes and good music. And though this year’s lineup stuck close to its reggae roots, the inclusion of acts like Kid Cudi, Cypress Hill, and Ludacris elevated the experience with a fresh, genre-blending energy. Reggae, Hip-Hop, and a Touch of Punk: 2025 Lineup Highlights The 2025 Cali Vibes Festival lineup offered a carefully curated mix of reggae legends, hip-hop icons, and emerging artists. Familiar names like Slightly Stoopid, Iration, and Stick Figure returned, joined by younger talent including YG Marley and DENM, creating a truly multi-generational experience. For fans looking for more than music, the festival also expanded its offerings with

Peach Pit at The Greek Theater by Michelle Evans

Peach Pit & Briston Maroney Spellbind The Greek Theater

Danny Baraz June 17, 2025

June 11 2025 felt tailor-made for an outdoor indie double bill. Ticketmaster billed the evening as Peach Pit & Briston Maroney — Long Hair, Long Life Tour and promised an “all-ages indie celebration.” The sun slipped behind Griffith Park just as doors opened at 5:30 p.m., giving 5,800 fans plenty of time to explore merch, sip local brews, and admire the Greek Theatre’s art-deco façade before the 7 p.m. start time. Briston Maroney: Folk-grunge fireworks to start the night Knoxville-raised singer-songwriter Briston Lee Maroney cut his teeth on American Idol at 15, busked bluegrass tunes through Tennessee, and independently issued EPs before landing with Atlantic Records. His gold-certified single “Freakin’ Out on the Interstate” paved the way for full-lengths Sunflower (2021), Ultrapure (2023) and the brand-new Jimmy (May 2025), a record that pairs confessional lyrics with grungy guitar crescendos. Stepping onstage beneath faux evergreens and twinkle lights, Knoxville native Briston Maroney treated L.A. like his own backyard campfire. He hurled himself into opener “Small Talk,” then immediately demanded a louder response: “Feel it tonight, Los Angeles—really feel it!” related: Music For Trees- P.J. Harvey at The Greek Theater Maroney’s nine-song set hopscotched through every era of his catalog: “Under My

Take This: Win a Pair of Tickets to Morbid Saint at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command June 16, 2025

If you live in Los Angeles and consider yourself a thrash-zone regular, chances are you’ve been to a few Charged Noise shows. The promoter, who promised a huge pit at every show, is known to throw thrash metal bangers a level above all his contemporaries in the scene. That’s the driving force behind his next big show, Morbid Saint at 1720 and focus of our ticket giveaway (details below). For those who’ve been too sheltered all their lives to have never discovered the serrated metal of Morbid Saint, their album Spectrum of Death is an absolute classic, inspiring blackened thrash and death metal to no end. It wasn’t that long ago that Morbid Saint were on hiatus, so whenever they tour through Los Angeles, you should consider yourself blessed to see them. Fast forward to 2025: these Wisconsin metal icons released their third album, Swallowed by Hell, and the band sound like they were frozen in ice for three decades so they could play the same ripping thrash to tear up today’s watered-down metal scene. Morbid Saint isn’t the only band playing though, Fueled by Fire and Velosity are opening the show with absolute rage start to finish. If you haven’t

Youth Code Break The Ice At The Echo: Yours, With Malice

Danny Baraz June 12, 2025

This past Saturday, June 7th, the post-punk industrial outfit, Youth Code, returned to The Echo in Los Angeles for their first headlining show in this city in 9 years. L.A. is the city from which Youth Code spawned so, that hiatus is enigmatic on its own. Why has it been so long and why now? The latter, easy to answer — Yours, With Malice, the new EP released last month on May 16th by Sumerian Records. Spoiler alert: It’s a fucking banger. In the shadow of the ICE raids and protests happening downtown and all over the city, Youth Code and their supporting act, Sweat played a show- one of the best club shows I’ve seen all year and it was fitting it was at The Echo for many reasons. I knew nothing about the band Sweat but they announced their presence with authority. Sweat are a hard-hitting hardcore-punk trio from Los Angeles, formed in 2019 by veteran SoCal scene members Tuna Tardugno (vocals), Justin Smith (guitar/bass), and Anthony Rivera (drums), formerly of outfits like Graf Orlock, Dangers, and Dogteeth . With razor-sharp riffs, metallic hardcore energy, and an unhinged and frenetic live show by their ringleader, Tardugno, they channel influences ranging from Cro‑Mags

The Adicts- One of Punk’s Most Enduring Acts In Midst of Legendary Tour

Jessica Moncrief June 9, 2025

Fresh off a mind-blowing set at Punk Rock Bowling in Las Vegas, The Adicts hit the West Coast running—selling out every Southern California date, including San Diego, Los Angeles, and Pomona. Demand was so overwhelming that they added a last-minute extra night in Pomona to accommodate the flood of fans. Over the course of four unforgettable consecutive nights, they delivered their signature blend of theatrical punk and unshakable optimism to rooms packed with loyal fans, first-timers, and multiple generations of droogs—all coming together to celebrate the simple miracle of being alive in the moment. Even though The Adicts have been spreading joy for nearly five decades, punk isn’t just nostalgia with this band, it’s present-tense, kinetic, and thriving. Since the late ’70s, The Adicts have been singing songs of praise for the weird, the wild, and the joyfully defiant—reminding the world to stay playful, live loud, embrace autonomy, and not take life so fucking seriously. related: Hat Trickers And Lower Class Brats at Bootleg Theater- A Real Horror Show The Drowns opened each evening on a high note with a fun, energetic set of melodic punk. Their stage presence was undeniable, each member brought their own charisma, and together they

Spiritual Cramp at Regent Theater by Taylor Wong

Spiritual Cramp: Alive at the Regent Theater

Danny Baraz June 6, 2025

Last month on May 21st, Spiritual Cramp opened a show for Bad Nerves at The Regent Theater. We here at Janky Smooth have been mildly obsessed with Spiritual Cramp- mostly theorizing on why they aren’t headlining shows like this yet. Because once you see them live, the band leaves no doubt. Spiritual Cramp released their first full length, self titled studio album in 2023 to go with 4 EP’s and a slue of singles. Every release is solid. But do yourself a favor- if Spiritual Cramp come to your town, do whatever you can to go see them. related: LA’s Best Festival is Sound and Fury- Here’s Why (2018) When you first hear the name Spiritual Cramp, you’re not sure if you’re about to get hit with a darkwave sermon or an exorcism of punk rock demons. But once the needle drops—or they hit the stage—you know exactly what you’re in for: a sweaty, soul-drenched blast of refined angst, post-punk groove, and swagger that may not be unique to them but they certainly take it to it’s purest form. Now stationed in Los Angeles, Spiritual Cramp is the band you didn’t know you needed—until you see them and your taint

Gang of Four at Fonda Theater by Albert Licano

Gang of Four at The Fonda: The End of the Long Goodbye Tour

Janky Smooth Central Command June 2, 2025

On May 28, 2025, Gang of Four delivered a powerful performance at Los Angeles’ Fonda Theatre, marking a significant moment in their farewell “The Long Goodbye” tour. The band, known for their influential role in the post-punk movement, showcased two sets that paid homage to their storied career. As pioneers of the post-punk movement, Gang Of Four’s music favored tense rhythms, percussive guitar with sharp tones, and lyrics that traded in Marxist theory and situationism. As long as this last goodbye run was, it didn’t show at The Fonda Theater. Gang of Four are not only as spry and believable as ever, but John King still had seemingly endless energy at the end of the second set. I’m sure the adrenaline is still pumping a week later from the adoring fans prompting the band to play one more song that would never end. The Fonda-Setlist 1 “Entertainment!”: Ether Natural’s Not in It Not Great Men Damaged Goods Return the Gift I Found That Essence Rare Glass Contract At Home He’s a Tourist 5.45 Anthrax The Fonda- Setlist 2 “Best of the Rest”: He’d Send in the Army Capital (It Fails Us Now) Outside the Trains Don’t Run on Time Paralysed

Justice at Santa Barbara Bowl shot by Michelle Evans

Justice at Santa Barbara Bowl: Disco Church

Janky Smooth Central Command May 27, 2025

The rural hills of Santa Barbara received a much-needed disco disruption in the form of Justice performing at the SB Bowl for their Hyperdrama North American tour. Since their inception with 2007’s Cross, French DJ duo Justice have broken the mold of what electronic music should be, reinventing themselves and the genre each time they release an album. 2024’s Hyperdrama follows in the band’s rich tradition of innovation and boundary-pushing, all while staying cool and lowkey about it. Hyperdrama features appearances from Tame Impala and Miguel, adding dashes of psychedelic rock and R&B to an already expansive sound. Justice, unlike other electronic groups, aren’t committed to simply blending electronic music with rock or industrial or disco, like they were once notorious for with songs like “Stress.” Justice’s M.O. is much bigger—to cover the entire musical landscape through the Justice lens, which amplifies the power, tension, and release of songs while making them headbanging anthems audiences can dance the night away to. related content: Stone Age Swagger: Queens of the Stone Age at SB Bowl A Justice show is a communal experience. Every time the duo plays “We Are Your Friends” on loop, audiences grow closer together around the group. And though

King Tuff Farewell at The Lodge Room by Taylor Wong

King Tuff Unloads His Clip With A Farewell Show At The Lodge Room

Taylor Wong May 22, 2025

May 15th was one of those rare nights at The Lodge Room where the room felt sacred. Not because we were mourning someone who passed, but because we were saying goodbye to a living legend. After more than a decade of calling L.A. home, King Tuff—aka Kyle Thomas—was leaving the city to head back to his native Vermont. No funeral, no drama, just a farewell show packed with friends, fans, and deep cuts. Still, it carried that weird weight. A little celebratory, a little emotional. The kind of night where people linger a little longer in their hugs and the encore feels more like a thank-you note than a victory lap. For those who haven’t followed his journey, King Tuff came up in Brattleboro, Vermont, playing in freak-folk outfits like Feathers before co-founding the stoner metal band Witch with J Mascis. From there, he broke out as a solo act under the King Tuff moniker, releasing Was Dead in 2008—an album that would later go on to cult status when it was reissued by Burger Records and Sub Pop in 2013. The self-titled King Tuff LP in 2012 pushed him further into the spotlight with tracks like “Bad Thing” and

Warped Tour 2025: Full Lineup, Dates & Cities Announced

Janky Smooth Central Command May 21, 2025

Vans Warped Tour is Back! 2025 Lineup, Cities & Dates For fans who grew up sweating through Vans sneakers in parking lots, clutching crumpled setlists, and discovering their favorite bands by accident—this is the moment you’ve been waiting for. After six long years of silence, Vans Warped Tour is officially returning in 2025. And it’s not just back. It’s bigger, bolder, and ready to ignite a new generation of fans. Once the lifeblood of youthful punk rock summers, Warped Tour was more than just a traveling concert—it was a cultural pilgrimage. Whether you were crowd-surfing to A Day To Remember or picking up zines at the PETA tent, every stop felt like a shared rite of passage. Since its final tour in 2019, fans have kept the flame alive through throwback playlists, tattered wristbands, and countless Reddit threads asking the same question: “Will Warped ever come back?” Now, it has—and the announcement didn’t just ripple through the music scene. It detonated. Reddit and X exploded. Music blogs lit up. Longtime fans and scene veterans reunited across timelines, screaming in all caps: “WARPED IS BACK.” But this isn’t just a victory lap or a reunion tour. Warped Tour 2025 is a

Take This: Win a Pair of Tickets To See Gang of Four at The Fonda

Janky Smooth Central Command May 20, 2025

Gang of Four will return to Los Angeles for their Long Goodbye Tour Stop at The Fonda on May 28th and we have a pair of tickets to giveaway. See below or on Instagram for details. In 2024, Gang of Four embarked on their “The Gang of Four: The Return of the Gang of Four” tour, featuring King, Burnham, and Allen together for the first time since 1981. Now in 2025, the band has announced what they’re calling their Long Goodbye Tour, a final worldwide celebration of their music and legacy. This farewell tour delivers 2 sets of emotionally charged performances. Set 1 is the Gang of Four album Entertainment! in it’s entirety, with set 2 delivering the best of the rest with deeper cuts and personal stories reflecting on their 45-year journey. related: Photo Recap- Gang of Four at The Roxy Janky Smooth is giving away a pair of tickets to one winner to see Gang of Four on their Long Goodbye tour stop at The Fonda Theater. You can buy tickets HERE Or to Enter: Follow @JankySmooth on Instagram Like the original Gang of Four Giveaway Post in our feed. Tag a Friend Winner Will be announced Tuesday,

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Cruel World 2025 by Albert Licano

Cruel World 2025 At The Rose Bowl: We’re Only Happy When It Rains

Rob Shepyer May 20, 2025

Cruel World 2025 at the Rose Bowl was the fourth iteration of the festival, but some strange alignment in the distant goth cosmos caused a number of firsts in Cruel World history. Rain fell on Los Angeles’ goth community as they all gathered at the Rose Bowl for what music fans recognize as goth prom. Cruel World is much more than a goth fest, though—’80s music, metal, and punk all performed in gloomy Pasadena over the weekend. Never before did the concertgoers, wearing their finest layers of black, actually dress appropriately for the weather—until now. Some came to Cruel World to see Devo “Whip It” like it was 1980, some came to be in the palm of Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand”, others came just to get a one-day vacation with New Order before “Blue Monday. Whatever the motivation, the festival once again found appropriate meaning in its name. This year it was cold and dreary, with imported London fog infused with LA smog. Most people prefer not to experience a concert drenched from head to toe, but as a departure from the brutal heat of previous years, it had some upsides. The rain forced many Cruel Worlders looking for shelter

Model/Actriz at The Roxy: A Queer Sermon in Noise Rock

Taylor Wong May 16, 2025

I first stumbled into the world of Model/Actriz by accident. It was a few years back at Sound & Fury Fest, and I was assigned to shoot them. I didn’t know their name, didn’t know the music, didn’t know what I was about to walk into. I just knew I had a lens in my hand and a job to do. What I got instead was a conversion. Right out the gate, they hit the stage with a mix of post-punk, industrial noise-rock, and pure unfiltered gay energy. The kind that doesn’t ask for permission. The kind that vogues and spits and bleeds. Cole Haden—Model/Actriz’s frontman and spiritual conjurer—was bouncing across the stage like a punk rock ballerina. Limbs flying, chest heaving, eyes wild. And then, mid-set, he leapt into the crowd and performed most of the set among us, singing to our faces, brushing against shoulders, dissolving the barrier between performer and observer in a way I hadn’t seen since… ever. That show stuck with me. And like all things that feel a little too intense to be real, I wondered if I’d built it up in my head over time. Cut to last night at the Roxy Theatre

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!

Oneohtrix Point Never at The Wiltern by Abraham Preciado

Oneohtrix Point Never at The Wiltern: Post-Post-Modern Music

Rob Shepyer May 13, 2025

Oneohtrix Point Never at the Wiltern wasn’t an ordinary concert — it was a creative breakthrough into a new form we were all indulged in. I remember being in a film class about postmodernism and asking my professor what movement was supposed to come after. The professor’s answer was “hyperreality”, which — if you’re familiar with it from painting — is a style that almost perfectly maps onto the real world… almost. Although it’s a bit difficult to imagine what hyperreality looks like in music or performance, Oneohtrix Point Never’s show at The Wiltern was an experimental leap ahead of postmodernism, and either a sidestep from hyperreality or a pastiche of it. During the show, a live puppeteer mimicked Oneohtrix Point Never’s performance, with the puppet’s antics projected live on a screen behind OPN. Seeing the duality between man and puppet provided layers of meaning to OPN’s performance, making it an autobiography in the form of a concert. For those not in the know, Oneohtrix Point Never is the pen name of electronic musician, producer, and film composer Daniel Lopatin. His rise to acclaim came in increments before his signature sound became undeniable — notably when featured in Safdie Brothers

Kyle "King Tuff" Thomas Plays Guitar for Ty Segall and The Muggers by Taylor Wong

King Tuff Is Leaving Los Angeles: A Final Farewell at the Lodge Room?

Janky Smooth Central Command May 10, 2025

Los Angeles, get ready to say goodbye to one of the city’s most beloved rock ‘n’ roll weirdos. Kyle Thomas aka King Tuff is bidding farewell to the City of Angels with a final hometown performance at The Lodge Room in Highland Park on Wednesday, May 15, 2025. As part of what’s being called a celebratory send-off rather than a swan song, this show promises to be a psych-fuzz-reverb drenched night of gratitude, good vibes, and garage-glam magic. related: King Tuff and The Shrine In Venice for Red Bull Sound Select Tickets for King Tuff’s farewell LA show are going fast, and for good reason: this isn’t just another tour stop—it’s the end of an era for fans who’ve followed his journey from lo-fi beginnings to Sub Pop success. Whether you’ve been spinning Was Dead since 2008 or fell in love with the introspective shimmer of 2023’s Smalltown Stardust, this Lodge Room date is a rare chance to experience the full spectrum of King Tuff’s sound one last time in his hometown. Why This Show Matters This isn’t just a concert—it’s a transmission from a singular creative force. Over the years, King Tuff has helped shape LA’s indie-psych-rock landscape with

Negative Spaces In A Hyper Poppy Atmosphere At The Wiltern

Danny Ryan May 8, 2025

Poppy is certainly an anomaly in the heavy music world, almost resembling an overall brand or abstract concept more than just a simple musician as she further blurs the line between influencers and artists. While many people are familiar with her through her days of bizarre Youtube videos where she took on the role of a robotic AI humanoid spouting nonsense, she has come a long way from the novelty of being a subject for reaction videos and has really proved herself as a refreshing forward-thinking figure in heavy metal. Fresh off of her newest album “Negative Spaces” and recent collaborations with Knocked Loose and Bad Omens; Poppy brought her blend of bubblegum catchy melodies, glitchy industrial effects, and brutal metalcore breakdowns to The Wiltern for a night of pure chaotic poppy energy. With Los Angeles being the last date of this tour, Poppy went all out in transforming The Wiltern into her own signature bizarre, twisted world that converted any stubborn metalhead in the room to a believer in her vision for the genre’s future. related: Different Shades of Black and Blue – Knocked Loose at 1720 The opening act Chinese American Bear was an interesting choice for the

Sex Cells 2025- Photo by Abraham Preciado

Sex Cells and We’re Buying- somewhere south of Hollywood Blvd

Danny Baraz May 7, 2025

Somewhere in the heart of Hollywood on Wilcox, in a club/venue I have never entered before, Sex Cells re-emerged from it’s hiatus hole, to return to us a provocative buffet of fetish culture, avant-garde/smutty art, and self-expression. Out of the birth canal of Danny Fuentes, the L.A raised freak show turned ambassador and the individual behind Lethal Amounts gallery (but not in the alley). Sex Cells transcends traditional club nights, offering a haven for those who revel in the unconventional but fiercely protective against any potential spectators looking for a freak show or a glimpse of t&a+D. Danny Fuentes: the PT Barnum of rare humans but unlike that circus, exploitation is consensual. Lethal Amounts has long been a stalwart advocate for counterculture. If Lethal Amounts had any over arching theme, it would be that. Fuentes has curated exhibitions that delve into once taboo subjects in the mainstream- satanic rituals and serial killers and of course, forwarding and celebrating all the divine, aesthetic and historical culture that has brought the queer community to it’s current paradigm all across the world . This is our vanilla. His commitment to showcasing the extremes of human experience is evident in the gallery’s diverse array of artists,

Death or Glory Fest Giveaway-Guess The Mystery Headliner???

Janky Smooth Central Command May 7, 2025

Death or Glory Music & Tattoo Festival is the newest kid on the festival block and its buzz has already made a huge splash. With the very first San Diego performance of Detroit hardcore legends, Cold as Life, they are going to host a performance West Coast Hardcore Kids have dreamt about ever since the band reunited. Hosting one of hardcore’s most notoriously badass bands isn’t all that’s causing chatter in the scene though. The festival already has a diverse lineup of bands within the hardcore and hardcore punk genres, giving audiences a taste of every vibe out there today. Add a tattoo convention and San Diego Harley Davidson for the venue, and you have one of the most insane and hardcore cocktails that will ensure this fest will go down in So-Cal history. Oh but that’s not all. One of the headliners of this baby hasn’t even been revealed yet. Followers on the festival’s instagram got a sample of the fest’s lineup but came away with more questions than answers. Namely, who else is headlining Death or Glory??? Well, fans will find out eventually but if you can predict who’s going to be on the next lineup announcement in

Parliament Funkadelic at Ventura Music Hall shot by Jeff Tillquist

How to Humanize an Alien: Parliament Funkadelic at Ventura Music Hall

Rob Shepyer May 5, 2025

Thanks to Ventura Music Hall and George Clinton, Parliament Funkadelic was up until Monday, a bucket list band that needed to get checked off my list if I was really to consider myself a music junkie. Now, in a totally changed state of mind since seeing them perform classic songs like “Flashlight”, “Atomic Dog”, “We Got The Funk”, and more, I’ve been feeling this strange sense of nostalgia for a time I didn’t even exist in. That time I’m so fondly recalling through videos, images, and oral tradition was the seventies. At the time, pop culture was more colorful, vivid, imaginative, and real. Forced to create practical magic and effects if artists wanted to make concerts feel out of this world, groups like Parliament Funkadelic constructed UFOs that would land on stage and release a cavalcade of alien crazies upon the audience, all dressed and sounding completely unique from one another to create a funk jam session akin to stream of consciousness power poetry. It was in the seventies, back when a heavily dreaded George Clinton produced acid-inspired rollercoaster rides that ranged from metallic to soulful to downright religious, that Clinton and his band were at their peak-alieness. Today, as

Model/Actriz at Cruel World 2024 by Taylor Wong

Model/Actriz- Pirouette: Bend Bodies/Break Brains/New Album

Danny Baraz May 5, 2025

Boston-forged and Brooklyn-based post-punk provocateurs Model/Actriz returned to us on May 3 with Pirouette (True Panther Records), the feverishly anticipated follow-up to their blistering 2023 debut, Dogsbody. Known for their physical, feral live shows and vocalist Cole Haden’s magnetic, almost confrontational presence, Model/Actriz are back to twist the knife even deeper—dance or die. The first time I became aware of Model/Actriz was in 2017 when I was invited to see another friend’s new band at the Hi- Hat in Highland Park. I missed my friends’ band but I did NOT miss Model/Actriz. I knew, then and there, that I had witnessed something special there and instantly the bands’ first EP- “NO” became a classic in my catalog. related: The Next Wave of Sound- Model/Actriz at The Hi Hat While their follow up EP, AVA did not hit as hard for me, it served as a laboratory for their first full length 2023 release- Dogsbody. Where Dogsbody introduced the band’s vicious fusion of noise rock, industrial grooves, and sweaty club tension, Pirouette sharpens their edge without losing any of the body-moving chaos. Produced with a tighter, cleaner mix that never loses its grit, the record still slithers and screams with the

Swing Heil: Anti-Fascist Hardcore Punks Swing Kids Return to Los Angeles

Rob Shepyer May 4, 2025

Swing Kids have reunited. They already brought their abrasive, unhinged brand of hardcore punk to San Diego, and now, they’re heading up a few hours north to make a statement at Highland Park’s Lodge Room. Justin Pierson has always been political, even in his most oddball musical projects but when leading Swing Kids, performances become political strikes. Swing Kids was a band that came together with a purpose. Using the model of swing and jazz bands that performed under a specific ethical code, they fueled their hardcore punk with the collective fists of the Anti-fascist movement. SWING HEIL! They began in the 90’s when politics was perhaps less salacious, but just as disgusting and repressive. To counter the bombast and gall of the current administration’s messaging, Swing Kids have plugged back in. SWING HEIL! Swings Kids isn’t just a band, it’s a movie, and it’s a real life phenomenon during a time when the backdrop to music was institutionalized holocaust, racism, and propaganda everywhere to bury freedom of thought and spirit. Today, Swing Kids reunited at a strategic moment, where to combat a new fascism they contribute to the new anti-fascism. SWING HEIL! Take a look at the documentary they

Obituary at The Bellwether by Taylor Wong

Obituary At The Bellwether: 35 Years of Cause Of Death

Danny Baraz April 30, 2025

This past Saturday, April 26th, in the year of our Lord, 2025, Obituary, along with Nails brought their tour celebrating 35 years of Cause of Death to The Bellwether in Downtown Los Angeles. Tampa Florida’s Obituary released their second album, Cause of Death in 1990—35 years ago. I was a freshman in high school. I had never heard anything like it and I found out pretty quickly that NO ONE else had heard anything like it, either. My teenage feelings of suffering and despair and confusion and anger finally had a soundtrack. I was just getting into thrash metal and hardcore punk and picking up a guitar for the first time. My preferences leaned toward frenetic chaos with a high bpm. Fast and hard. But Obituary and Cause of Death showed me a new way—grinding, low tempo, heavy riffs that slowly dragged bodies across the floor. Sludgy breakdowns building to blast beat eargasms that changed my life forever. Slayer and others showed them the way but it was Cause of Death that had that mix of thrash and sludge that really got me off. That cassette lived in my Walkman for a good 3 months, uninterrupted. It formally introduced a

Teen Mortgage and Spoon Benders Tear Zebulon Apart – Night One Recap

Taylor Wong April 29, 2025

If there was any doubt that raw, snarling rock n’ roll is alive and breathing fire in 2025, Teen Mortgage and Spoon Benders came to Zebulon the other night and left no survivors. Zebulon was packed to the absolute brim — a heaving, sweaty mass of bodies smashed together like a human ocean. People were bouncing off the walls (literally). It was the first of two sold-out nights, and the energy felt less like a “show” and more like a full-scale uprising. Spoon Benders kicked things off, and damn, if they didn’t blow the doors clean off. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Spoon Benders have been steadily building a name for themselves since forming in 2019. With roots in the Pacific Northwest’s rich DIY scene, they’ve gained a reputation for their blistering live shows and experimental approach to psych-rock. Their sound pulls from a range of influences — a little Dead Meadow haze, a bit of Ty Segall grit, and a touch of doom-laden groove reminiscent of early Black Sabbath. Songs like “Dichotomatic” rattled the bones of everyone crammed inside. Every note felt jagged and alive, like a sonic landslide tumbling over the crowd. If you weren’t moshing, you were probably

Together Pangea at El Rey by Taylor Wong

Together Pangea and Prison Affair Tear Up Coachella Side Show at El Rey

Taylor Wong April 28, 2025

In between their Coachella Weekends 1 and 2 sets, Together Pangea and Spain’s Prison Affair stopped off in Los Angeles for a sold-out show at the El Rey Theatre — a sweaty, cathartic night that offered fans a more intimate taste of the chaos they’d just unleashed in the desert. While both bands came with buzz, they offered two very different flavors of punk-adjacent mayhem — one a homegrown institution, the other a rising international cult. Together Pangea has long been synonymous with LA’s garage rock underground. Formed in 2008 when frontman William Keegan began sharing songs from his dorm room, the band quickly found footing in the DIY circuit before crashing through with 2014’s Badillac. Known for their explosive live shows and slacker-meets-sleaze songwriting, they’ve become a staple of Southern California’s indie rock scene — the kind of band that’s always on someone’s “you had to be there” list. And while their El Rey set was classic Together Pangea — wild, gritty, and tight — there was a warmth to it, too. Maybe it’s the fact that Keegan and his partner Kelsey are expecting their first child soon, a new chapter that adds a subtle sense of joy and

Memoirs Of My First Acid Bath Show…

Jessica Moncrief April 28, 2025

After a 28-year hiatus, legendary sludge metal band Acid Bath returned to the stage this past weekend with their first show on April 25, 2025, at The Fillmore in New Orleans. The performance was a seismic event for fans, blending raw energy and haunting melodies that captivated the audience. Acid Bath’s return not only rekindled the fire of their loyal fanbase but also showcased their enduring influence in the metal scene. This milestone event marked a powerful chapter in the band’s storied legacy. A story that is part of my story, as well. The year was 1995. I was 15 years old. My mom had just gotten clean and decided to move us from San Diego to Panama City Beach, Florida. In her heart, I think she believed that putting distance between us and our delinquent friends would somehow make it easier to manage my sister and me while she got her shit together. Boy, was she wrong. Finding new friends to get in trouble with was super easy—and one thing was for sure: Floridian delinquents in the ’90s were a whole different level of crazy compared to San Diego kids. It felt like a dream. We lived at the

Take This! Win 2 Tickets To See Swing Kids at the Lodge Room

Janky Smooth Central Command April 25, 2025

Swing Kids, the iconic post-hardcore band from San Diego, California, are making a highly anticipated return to the stage with an upcoming show at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles on Monday, May 5th. Janky Smooth is giving away a pair of tickets to one winner to see Swing Kids. You can Buy Tickets Now or see below for instructions on entering our giveaway Originally formed in the mid-1990s, Swing Kids made a powerful impact on the underground music scene with their intense live performances, emotionally charged lyrics, and a unique blend of hardcore punk, jazz, and noise rock. Led by frontman Justin Pearson—also known for his work with his label ThreeOneG and his other projects- The Locust, Retox and Dead Cross—Swing Kids stood out with their raw energy and unapologetic political edge. Though their original run was brief, their self-titled EP and the influential “Situation on Mars” release helped define a new era of art-damaged punk and laid the groundwork for future experimental hardcore bands. After disbanding in 1997, Swing Kids’ cult status only grew. Their sound influenced a generation of musicians and earned them a lasting place in post-hardcore history. The band reunited periodically for special benefit shows, always

Sex Cells Returns to Los Angeles: A Night of Subversive Glamour and Sonic Mayhem

Janky Smooth Central Command April 24, 2025

After an extended hiatus, Sex Cells is making its highly anticipated return to The Dragonfly in the heart of Los Angeles on May 3rd, 2025. Known for its decadent fusion of underground music, avant-garde fashion, and unapologetically provocative aesthetics, this cult-favorite club night is more than just a party—it’s a cultural statement. Founded by creative provocateur Danny Fuentes, the res-Erection of Sex Cells promises a surreal collision of art, music, and provocation that only LA could birth. At the core of the Sex Cells ethos is Danny Fuentes himself, a driving force behind some of LA’s most boundary-pushing art and nightlife. He is the visionary behind Lethal Amounts, an iconic art gallery and brand known for celebrating counterculture, queerness, punk, fetish, and the underground. Located in downtown Los Angeles, Lethal Amounts has exhibited works by transgressive legends like Genesis P-Orridge, Lydia Lunch, and Rick Castro, creating a platform for voices and visuals too raw for the mainstream. related: Pink Flamingos and Peaches- 2nd Annual John Waters Easter at The Madonna Inn Sex Cells emerged as a natural extension of Fuentes’ world—bringing the spirit of the gallery to the dance floor. Originally launched in 2016, the party quickly gained notoriety for

Beth Gibbons at The Orphuem: Outgrowing Your Own Creation

Rob Shepyer April 23, 2025

Beth Gibbons at The Orpheum Theatre was more than just a showcase of new music, it was a showcase of a new Beth Gibbons for all Los Angeles to enjoy. When you think Beth Gibbons and Portishead, you think of a specific sound. An elevated, urbanized jazz that pairs well with a Bond movie, maybe, or you think of the trip hop moniker developed by her band and other English groups like Massive Attack. Beth Gibbons’ solo work, and especially her 2024 album Lives Outgrown doesn’t so much as develop on the song she help originate and cultivate though, it outgrows it with a new evolution in her artistry that includes influences from folk, psychedelic, medieval, and world music sensibilities. Driving to the Orpheum theatre on a drowsy Thursday evening, her new album gave my trip a surreal feel, making each beat of time pass by with more meaningful reflection, and each tree outstretching over the freeway walls more tranquilizing with the nature-vibes captures on songs like “Floating on a Moment” or my favorite on the album, “Whispering Love”. Skimming through the tracklist now and looking back on the show, I see both as a statement on identity, lost and

Rose Tattoo at The Whisky, Rose-Tattoo-live-in-LA

Garage Rockers vs Skinheads vs Hardcore Kids: Rose Tattoo at the Whisky

Rob Shepyer April 16, 2025

The Whisky ’25: Rose Tattoo’s First US Show Since ’83 When Rose Tattoo announced their first American show since 1983, not only could I not believe it, but I made sure to procure tickets almost immediately. This show would then get cancelled, only for the prospect of Rose Tattoo playing Los Angeles to dissolve and become a big question mark. Would the legendary Australian band ever play in America again? This is a pure rock and roll band that didn’t just go on to inspire Guns and Roses but numerous scenes throughout Los Angeles, from skinheads to hardcore kids to garage rockers. It would otherwise be impossible to see these three scenes merge into one audience. Even for a megaband like The Misfits, these groups don’t come together to mingle in such close quarters. So, when Rose Tattoo announced two new shows in LA years later and then finally hit the stage at Whisky-a-Go-Go on March 6th and 7th, all those scenes were present and pounding their fists for what must’ve been an awfully cold day in hell. The set ran the gamut of a slew of Rose Tattoos classics such as “Nice Boys” and “Rock and Roll Outlaw,” with

T.Y. Ojai: Ty Segall at Ojai Valley Women’s Club

Rob Shepyer March 4, 2025

With MTV’s Unplugged catalogue hitting Paramount+ recently, I’ve been on a bit of an acoustic kick. When a popular artist goes acoustic, it’s a sign of a deeper appreciation and commitment to their fans and music than standard touring, writing, and recording cycle an artist goes through. Choosing to go on an acoustic tour, like the one Ty Segall and King Tuff are currently collaborating on throughout California, presents a challenge to a musician that really tests their artistry. It strips them of all the bells and whistles fans expect from their songs and live show, forcing the artist to compensate with pure charisma and sonic bravado. Both King Tuff and Ty Segall exhibited powerful charisma as acoustic artists, taking advantage of the silence between and around their songs to amplify the meaning of every lyric and note. The result of which is that audiences that were lucky enough to catch these shows may not have had their socks rocked off like they would in a Ty Segall and The Muggers show, or a Witch (King Tuff’s metal band) show, but we did experience the full fleshed out power and message of Ty’s songs like no other fans ever have.

Pentagram- Doom Ages Like Fine Wine At Ventura Music Hall

Rob Shepyer February 21, 2025

Something about old age injects more gravitas into a doom metal musician’s art. Perhaps its being closer to the great beyond, that dark place from which inspiration comes from that we all join at the end of our days. Perhaps something about graying hair and wrinkled skin makes the purveyor of doom metal all the more convincing to an audience. Doom metal, is of course a genre about bleakness and sorrow. A long life devoted to that style of music must have experienced everything the world has to offer, so to come away with singing “doom to world” instead of “Joy to world” gives fans the assurance that this artist is the real deal, and they’re not just playing a character in a gimmick. Then of course, there’s pace. Doom metal is slow metal. Slowness and sloth are what some equate with growing old. Dragging your feet, letting time pass you by because it makes no difference. All these ideas are second nature to doom metal’s mournful verses and tones. Bobby Liebling and the boys in Pentagram have been around since the inception of doom metal. Playing this genre of music before it had a name. To them, it was

Top Ten SHOWS of 2024 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 31, 2024

Shows have always been Janky Smooth’s bread and butter. Our contributors are willing travel far and wide for the right show, willing to abandon their families and face every obstacle to get there in time to see a compelling opener with any legit hype. This list will feature shows all across Los Angeles, California, and the whole of the United States. It will feature festival sets and intimate evenings with. It’ll list out shows with mosh pits and intimiate seating. Every musical experience under the sun, our contributors have seen it and are using their expert curation skills to give you the best of the best of 2o24. Publisher, Danny Baraz Ministry at Cruel World Ceremony and Infest at The Hollywood Palladium The Original Misfits at No Values Power Trip at The Fonda HEALTH, Panther Modern, Pixel Grip at The Music Box Tyler, the Creator at Camp Flog Gnaw Boy Harsher at The Glass House Primus, Puscifer, A Perfect Circle at Hollywood bowl The Black Angels at The Lodge Room Front 242 at The Mayan Editor, Rob Shepyer Trash Talk at Echoplex Ceremony at Hollywood Palladium Swans at Lodge Room Ministry at Cruel World Tool at Crypto.com Arena Queens of

Janky Smooth Top 10 ALBUMS of 2024 Rated by Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 31, 2024

2024 came and went with some of the most dramatic and tense moments in the country’s political and cultural history. As any true music head knows, great shifts are predicted in a culture’s music first, so if there’s anything the music of 2024 can tell us about the state of art and the future, we should be very excited for all things to come.Just as entire status quos of thought went challenged and overturned in 2024, many bands changed the dynamics of entire genres will releases that blew our contributors away. Here are the top ten albums of 2024, ranging from every category, from the underground to the mainstream. You will see the Janky signature in these lists with our selections that show appreciation for a huge range of music so unique that you’ll need to listen to these albums yourself to truly understand why 2024 was so monumental for music. Publisher, Danny Baraz Nox Novacula – Feed the Fire Blood Incantation – Absolute Elsewhere Amyl and the Sniffers – Cartoon Darkness Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven Hong Kong Fuck You – 1978-1981 Kendrick Lamar – GNX Tyler The Creator – Chromakopia The Cure – Songs of a Lost

Devastation on the Nation w/ I AM Morbid at Belasco

Rob Shepyer December 29, 2024

When someone tells me there’s a death metal show tonight, I usually ask them what kind of death metal. If they tell me Morbid Angel is playing, I’ll definitely think about going. If they tell me Morbid Angel was just replaced by I Am Morbid, David Vincent’s version of the band, I’ve already bought my ticket before they’ve completed their sentence. related content: Morbid Angel at The Regent: A Lesson in Death What differentiates the sort of Death metal that makes a show worth going to for me is often times the vocal. Newly attuned listeners of the genre may consider it splitting sonic hairs to parse between different styles of guttural vocals but if I can understand the lyrics a death metal band is screeching out, then I consider the band superior in some respects. Nothing against the demonic belching of numerous Deathcore and Death Metal bands like Suffocation, that shared the stage with I Am Morbid at this show, but because I was able to understand David Vincent’s gregorian chants from hell, I was able to feel the gravity of his music. It simply sounded and felt more evil, powerful, and scary because the words had meaning. Devastation

Tyler’s Camp Flog Gnaw Year 10 Intersects w/ Chromakopia Number 1

Aria Silva-Espinosa December 17, 2024

A long hike up the hills of Elysian Park is a small price to pay for the view from the top. Three massive stages situated in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium and boasting a wildly impressive hip-hop centric lineup, Camp Flog Gnaw celebrated its 10 year anniversary this past weekend and sold out well in advance, and the lineup wasn’t even announced until a month before the festival. related content: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Camp Flog Gnaw 2019 From legendary acts to tributes, DJ sets and soulful serenades, Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival is a uniquely curated exhibition of mainstream and underground artists, youth culture and untethered creative expression. The fan engagement and level of commitment to the art is evident in the way the incoming fans have chosen to dress. It’s early November and we’re up on a hilltop so everyone is a bit bundled up knowing that once the sun goes down it’ll be about as cold as Los Angeles is willing to tolerate. Workwear, faux fur and puffer jackets are out which would make a New Yorker giggle to see how dramatic we are about the shift into cooler weather. Among the masses it’s

Earth’s Crust: CY Fest 2024 at the Belasco

Rob Shepyer November 6, 2024

What does a typical LA punk want out of a festival? Given that Los Angeles is the most prominent live music hub in the USA, and the world, the average LA punk attends enough shows to make any given concert, no matter how badass, still leaving something to be desired. From my personal experience, that thing LA punks are left desiring from their scene is to have their minds, tastes, and boundaries expanded. I want to see something different, new. I want a band to show me something I didn’t think was possible. The best way to do this is by assembling bills with bands of various styles from various parts of the globe, and no festival has gathered more international acts in Los Angeles than CY Fest 2024. It was the World Cup of punk, with heavy representation from Sweden, Spain, Japan, Italy, Mexico, and so many more countries. Topping off the festivities, the USA’s contribution to the lineup came in the form of a rare Dropdead co-headlining performance before the reunion of Portland’s female-fronted crusties, Detestation. related content: Set The Animals Free: Wolfbrigade and Dropdead at 1720 With a few bands of the upcoming CY Fest 2025 already

Boys Noize, IHEARTCOMIX founder Franki Chan, and The Dare with Yo Gabba Gabba shot by The Cobrasnake

Partying Like It’s 2004: IHEARTCOMIX 20th Anniversary

Danny Ryan October 29, 2024

IHEARTCOMIX have established themselves as one of the most forward-thinking and distinct promoters in recent LA history over the past two decades; dipping their toes into events celebrating nearly every form of art not limited to raves, parties, movie premieres, album release events, and interactive art exhibitions. Celebrating their 20th anniversary, IHEARTCOMIX threw an absolutely wild party with a complete hodgepodge of a lineup; Featuring The Dare, Boys Noize, Fcukers, Nation of Language, Chela, and even Yo Gabba Gabba blessing the night with their presence. Comedy legend Reggie Watts hosted the entire event, completely taking ownership of the evening’s vibes and making sure everybody in attendance had the most memorable night possible. Although the early 00’s where they started may be long over, IHEARTCOMIX went above and beyond in providing a futuristic lineup that still evoked a nostalgic feeling that celebrated their history in the most crafted way possible. As soon as I approached The Bellweather, it was instantly apparent that this was not the average club event with the eccentric and colorful outfits that everybody was decked out in. While it was a more formally dressed crowd, IHEARTCOMIX’s brand is entirely based on being as expressive and colorful as

Music for Trees: PJ Harvey at the Greek Theatre

Rob Shepyer October 25, 2024

PJ Harvey’s return to North America saw her playing songs off 2023’s I Inside The Old Year Dying, her most recent album, which for those expecting the heavy, knock around sound of Steve Albini-produced Rid of Me, were in for a softer, more ambient and touching treat. The album cover of this 2023 effort visual communicates the sound, a slender twig made whole by its shadow, the image is minimalist and fragile, similar to the music but the music has a fuller element, as if you’re riding a wave from start to finish of every song. Hearing this in the heart of Griffith Park, surrounded by giant trees on either side which create a force field so that the music is for only those in the theatre’s arms, gave the evening a sort of contact high we’d feel with every song. related: Dangerously Artsy- Geneva Jacuzzi at The Lodge Room You felt in these songs a primal connection to nature, which PJ Harvey embodied this night with her long white dress. For those that were itching to hear her more punk rock material, like myself, we had to wait a little bit but it was well worth it to hear

HEALTH at the Grammy Museum- photo by Taylor Wong

HEALTH at The Grammy Museum- Making It In The New Music Industry

Danny Baraz October 18, 2024

So here I am for the first time at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles to see HEALTH perform a half set in a small 200 person theater with seats, and to live premier their latest song collaboration- “Ashamed” featuring Lauren Mayberry of CHVRCHES. Prior to the performance was a less awkward than I imagined Q and A with Nic Harcourt and the band that focused heavily on the creation of the 2023 full length release of Rat Wars. Singer/Songwriter and HEALTH guitarist, Jake Dusik was much more chatty than I expected for someone with such a catalog of sad bastard, isolationist song credits. Dusik spoke in great detail about that despair, which peaked during the pandemic lock down. The birth of his child during this bleak time and the death of society conceived their most critically acclaimed HEALTH album, to date. HEALTH co-founder and ambassador John Famiglietti, always bringing levity to the band described a completely different lock down experience that didn’t always shelter in place and was echoed by HEALTH drummer BJ Miller. HEALTH were asked their thoughts on who was the quintessential Los Angeles band and the answer given was The Doors. I found that to

Dangerously Artsy: Geneva Jacuzzi at the Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer September 13, 2024

Geneva Jacuzzi‘s “Art is Dangerous” isn’t just the banger single from her most recent Dais Records full length album, Triple Fire, “Art is Dangerous” is both an affirmation of the intention to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable (a sentiment lost among more and more corporatized and bubble-wrapped, cookie cutter artists) and it’s also a reference to a timeless debate that transcends culture. Is art dangerous? Were Tipper Gore and the PMRC right all along? Can you ingest as much devil worship, pornographic, sinful material as possible without having your soul tarnished one iota? Can you play endless hours of GTA, shooting up civilians without feeding a subliminal bloodlust, can you listen to Radiohead without feeling lonely or binge-stream Slayer without losing faith? Far too many people in the current state of the world are beginning to veer toward answering “yes”. That art, is in fact, dangerous. Even though Geneva Jacuzzi is affirming that danger, I have to wonder if she sees it dangerous in the same way as a certain sector of extreme believers who’s rhetoric makes you think they desire a modern bonfire of the vanities. I say this because Geneva Jacuzzi’s performance for her album release

Featured Song: Phantom Hound’s “From Boom Town To Ghost Town”

Rob Shepyer July 16, 2024

If you like your music equal parts moody and crushing, Phantom Hound’s latest release, “From Boom Town To Ghost Town” is just the jam you’ve been looking for. Hailing from Oakland, California, Phantom Hound is a power trio that plunges new depths of heavy psych and stoner rock to conjure a sound too hallowed to be restricted by the genre conventions of “doom”. Signature to this band’s sound and aesthetics are their grunge influence and love of all things vintage, be it western saloons, scarred leather, or good ol’ fashioned American gothic. “From Boom Town To Ghost Town” is a slow, methodical journey through American history, where black and white film can’t help but feel macabre. These grainy, faded memories marry the song’s themes well, about venturing back to places in your own past and discovering all that remains is a ghost town of what once was. The song juggles between a melancholy reverie of American shamanism to a stoner clinic with a brutal, sludge-fest of riffs, transcendent solos, and a powerful vocal performance that you would follow anywhere. Whether you prefer to pair their playing with a joint or bottle of whiskey, these riffs go down thick and Jake

Stone Age Swagger: Queens of the Stone Age at SB Bowl

Rob Shepyer June 7, 2024

This review is being written by a metalhead and punk. This review is not being written by a psych or stoner rocker. I was not a part of the Kyuss revelation. My history with Queens of the Stone Age mostly amounts to seeing “No One Knows”, “Go With The Flow” and “Little Sister” on MTV. There is one moment though, that Queens of the Stone Age changed my life. In 2007, along with three other college companions, I went on a drug fueled pilgrimage to Las Vegas for the shortly lived but deeply missed two-day rager known as Vegoose. The lineup for which featured Rage Against The Machine, The Stooges performing Funhouse, Daft Punk, and Queens of the Stone Age among a multitude of other great bands. related content: QOTSA and The Kills blow up the Forum on Halloween Night The four of us were on a mission that weekend to consume cocaine for the first time. A drug that seemed like an anachronism to us, a thing of the 80’s as extinct as the quaalude. However, at the most miraculous, uncanny moment that the festival could have produced, the drug magically came to us. During the Queens of the

Ministry at Cruel World shot by Taylor Wong

Cruel World 2024: A Legacy Forms in Year 3 at The Rose Bowl

Danny Baraz May 27, 2024

It’s very rare for a music festival to have a storied legacy to live up to after just 2 years. But after a total lunar eclipse that turned the moon blood red before completely disappearing during Bauhuas for Cruel World 2022 and inclement weather and lightning that thwarted Siouxsie Sioux from performing on Saturday in 2023 and adding a 2nd day on Sunday, it felt like raising the bar could be quite dangerous. For a moment, it looked like the massive storms on our star might cause the Aurora Borealis to materialize for a SECOND night in Southern California for Cruel World 2024. Was there some type of deal with the devil to manifest this excitement, pleasure and existential angst? Maybe a collab with the folks at CERN to find the physics of the post punk genre through the mysteries of particle colliders? Alas, we could not view the Northern Lights here in the southland but the stars fell from the sky and landed on the 3 stages, Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for yet another celestial Cruel World experience. related: Cruel World 2023- Redemption and Romance at The Rose Bowl Fandom has always been weird, wonderful and

Off The 405: Summer Concert Series at The Getty

Janky Smooth Central Command May 24, 2024

One of Los Angeles’ most beautiful places to see a concert is The Getty museum’s mountain top vista sitting Off The 405 freeway between the Valley and the West Side. Soak in the summer rays and bursts of colorful sunset while surrounding yourself with art from around the world and across the ages. The Getty is a setting that inspires artists to perform at their peak, join us and get inspired. Between June 1st and August 24th 2024, The Getty has blessed Los Angeles with concerts by incomparable artists like Julia Holter and Helado Negro. Each night serves as a reflection of LA culture, offering a diverse range of sounds and artists that LA has come to expect from The Getty’s Off The 405 Series. You can see the schedule of all shows this summer below: Hailu Mergia DJ set by Mark Maxwell Date: Saturday, June 1, 2024 Time: DJ set at 6 p.m.; Performance at 7:30 p.m. Location: Museum Courtyard Admission: Free, tickets required. Get Tickets here. Slauson Malone Date: Saturday, June 15, 2024 Time: DJ set at 6 p.m.; Performance at 7:30 p.m. Location: Museum Courtyard Admission: Free, tickets required. Tickets available May 23, 2024 Helado Negro Date: Saturday, July 20, 2024 Time: DJ set at 6 p.m.;

Summon and Purge: Swans at the Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer May 22, 2024

Tasked to describe Swans to a friend and convince him to join me at this sold out Lodge Room show, I wasn’t able to pinpoint any genre to pigeonhole the band into an understandable phenomenon. With a little research, Swans is usually categorized as a noise rock band, but even that is reductive given the band doesn’t necessarily need to be loud or noisy to be themselves. What makes Swans sound like themselves is their urge to connect to the spirit world. This can be done with excessive volume or hair-raising whispers, or it can be done through mantra-like repetition which they often utilize, or as I witnessed firsthand at the Lodge Room, a band can connect with the spirit world simply by creating so much sustained musical chaos that every witness becomes completely spellbound by awe. To open the show, Swans steel guitar player, Kristof Hahn opened with moody ambient crooner tunes, the sort you might expect to accompany a David Lynch film or the slower side of an Orville Peck reverie. His voice was both sweet and seasoned, carrying the sort of pain that only comes with a life full of experiences both beautiful and tragic. Once Kristof

The Book of Revelation Records: Judge, 7 Seconds, Side by Side and Youth of Today at 1720

Rob Shepyer May 17, 2024

Revelation Records is perhaps hardcore’s most iconic record label. With heavyweights like Gorilla Biscuits, 7 Seconds and Youth of Today in their lineup, the label has cemented their place as a necessary pillar of an entire genre. Even today, Revelation Records is still just as relevant, giving hardcore artists like Torso and Primal Rite the “rub” that extends their reach all around the world, a world that would be much softer without Revelation Records. related content: Two Times The Biscuit Power: Gorilla Biscuits at The Roxy This special weekend, where four of the label’s most influential bands would share the same stage on two co-headlining nights, was an event that could only take place in Los Angeles, at 1720, and booked by SOS Productions. 7 Seconds and Judge on Night 1, Youth of Today and the final Side by Side reunion show on Night 2. This was a bill too good to be true even in New York, for all the legendary matinee shows they witnessed, they never got see a collaboration this epic. There was almost a religious aspect to the shows, as if hardcore kids all over California had to make pilgrimage to beat witness to this holy

Gary Numan at The Fonda Theater shot by Saryn Christina

Gary Numan and Frontline Assembly at The Fonda: An Evening of Synths and Industrial Bliss

Saryn Christina May 8, 2024

On April 7, 2024, The Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles welcomed the eager fans of Gary Numan and Frontline Assembly with a line stretching around the block. The atmosphere buzzed with anticipation as the doors swung open, revealing a packed theater ready to witness both artists take the stage. Frontline Assembly kicked off the evening with a thunderous set that fused industrial beats with haunting melodies. Starting right on time, they strode from the darkness and exploded with sound. Playing classics like “Mindphaser” and crashing into newer tracks that showcased their evolution, Frontline Assembly delivered a performance that was as intense as it was mesmerizing. The entire band performed with an energy that set the stage for an incredible night. The crowd, bathed in pulsating lights and engulfed in a wall of sound, was entranced from start to finish. Related: Nitzer Ebb And Flow – A Night Of Dance And Darkness At The Music Box Soon after Frontline Assembly exited, Gary Numan took the stage and from the opening notes he captured the audience with his enduring sound. He delivered a career-spanning set that perfectly balanced his early, more pop-oriented sounds with the darker, industrial leanings of his later work.

Tonic Truth and Collective Consciousness: Kim Gordon at Ventura Music Hall

Rob Shepyer April 6, 2024

In her latest reinvention, Kim Gordon deepened her trip hop digs and redefined her signature noise rock stylings into a pure avalanche of disruption to pull our eyes out of our phones, whether to pay attention or escape into a headbang, so we may listen to what she has to say. This was my 2nd time seeing Kim Gordon live, my sole-previous experience was witnessing her headline Mosswood Meltdown 2022. Since then, she’s released The Collective the most defining album of her solo career and the Ventura Music Hall was the perfect place to perform. The venue is a uniquely chill hanger, resting in a uniquely chill slice of California. A true gem of the 805, it’s one of the best places to see a band for its great sound quality, acoustics, bar, kitchen and staff. Blessed by a painting of The Last Supper featuring the cast of The Big Lebowski in the darkened right corner of the room, every show is innately intimate at Ventura Music Hall. related content: Glorious Leader, Kim John Kill: Mosswood Meltdown 2022 The first track on the Collective, “BYE BYE”, was both Kimlet’s opener and closer for this tour. The song is a farewell

Cretin Hop at The Lodge Room by Taylor Wong

If Anyone Needed A New Year, It’s Me: The Black Lips at The Lodge Room

Taylor Wong April 5, 2024

New Year’s Eve; this is usually when you reflect on the year you’ve had and think about the year that’s about to come. Well my year was shit to say the least. Nothing beats losing a job, your dog getting cancer, and two break ups that bookend 2023. The year to come is uncertain for the first time in my life, and that’s pretty insane to me. With having no job for the first time in 9 years, I finally had an open New Year’s Eve to do something fun. The only thing that stood out to me this year was Cretin Hop’s New Year’s Eve Party with the Black Lips. The Black Lips are one of those bands that I’ve seen over and over and have never been disappointed. So no contest, the Lodge Room was the place to be New Year’s Eve. This was a weird New Year’s, and I think everyone can agree. When traveling around town, it just didn’t feel like there was anything really being celebrated. I started with overpriced drinks in North Hollywood at a ghost town of a bar. I soon realized I was running behind and made my way over to The

Pro(n)g Rock: Voivod at The Fonda

Rob Shepyer March 28, 2024

It’s a rarity that the Voivod UFO comes hovering over Los Angeles and to miss witnessing an event like this is simply a rookie metal move. Last time, the band came to El Rey opening for Revocation for an oddly mixed bill. Now, the band paired with Prong, who they took on the road decades prior to make this tour a metaphorical full circle around a distant sun. This tour saw saw them playing new music off Morgoth Tales and reaching up their sleeves to play classics and obscurities. related content: Heavy Metal UFO: Voivod and Revocation At El Rey Voivod is a child of thrash metal’s golden age but they were nothing like any of their contemporaries. They made songs that sounded like radioactive war ballads, long and sweeping musical tales featuring ranges of emotions, all-over-the-place instrumentation, and structure that would blow the minds of many musicians that only understood thrash as a blend of punk and metal. This was a co-headlining tour though, and many people came for Prong, partly as a way to connect to their Danzig worship, given that Tommy Viktor is the leader of Prong and long time guitarist for Glenn, and partly because Los

Ceremony at The Palladium by Albert Licano

Ceremony Gets Their Flowers at the Hollywood Palladium

Rob Shepyer March 4, 2024

As 2024 launches into orbit, I see our Los Angeles music scene and its veterans coming full circle as the year’s trajectory begins to take shape. Ceremony’s epic Palladium show celebrating the anniversary of 2010’s Rhonert Park EP was the biggest headlining show of their career, performing in front of 3,700 people. It was a moment created completely by the organic devotion of their fans and not by a music industry needing new rock stars. It was the moment Ceremony received their flowers. related content: If Ever A Band Was My Home: Ceremony’s HOME SICK Festival at the Phoenix Theater For as long as Ceremony has been my favorite band, I’ve considered them an underground darling. Their shows were more energetic than seeing a major rock band. You’d go to a show and think “everyone who loves live music ought to see this at least once”, yet people just assumed hardcore couldn’t break the ceiling above any underground music act. Sound and Fury, though, could imagine otherwise. The festival had been the engine behind Ceremony’s Southern California icon-status, giving our hardcore scene unforgettable sets with the band like their 2016 Regent set, their 2018 headlining Belasco set, their Your Life in

3Teeth at The Teragram Ballroom shot by Abraham Preciado

3Teeth at The Teragram: Industrial Dystopia

Danny Ryan February 8, 2024

Love for gothic industrial and nu-metal aesthetics seemed nonexistent for a while, being almost universally seen as cringe and outdated as indie rock and trap music dominated the airwaves in the late 00’s and early 2010’s. With political tensions rising after the 2016 election however, angry and darker music came back in a massive way that can be seen with festivals like Sick New World selling out quickly and the industrial scene feeling as relevant as ever again. 3Teeth is a band that took full advantage of this shift in attitude, bringing the angsty edge of 90’s greats like Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson to a new audience that’s just as wild at live concerts. In celebration of their newest album EndEx, 3Teeth transformed the Teragram Ballroom into a cyberpunk wasteland and hosted a late night of industrial sounds from every era; with ear-piercing distortion, infectiously dancey synthesizer melodies, and leather as far as the eye can see. With Skold, Straight Razor, and 8mm as surprise openers for the evening, there was a treat for all fans of industrial music no matter what their preference may be. Straight Razor’s performance began with an eerie but blissful ambient intro, almost

The Black Angels at Levitation by Grace Dunn

Levitation 2023: The Catharsis of Heavy Music

Janky Smooth Central Command January 11, 2024

Halloween weekend. Thickness in the air. Darkness in the world. I’m committed to a music festival far from home and it’s supposed to rain. Austin, Texas: despite having been there only 5 months prior for Austin Psych Fest, one of the most special community-based music experiences of my life, I felt anxiety leading up to Levitation 2023. So when I left LAX and landed at AUS Airport on Thursday afternoon before the music began, I begged the weight of the world to lighten, with hopes for a familiar outcome of levity, connection, and reclaimed freedom. I believe all of us lost festival goers are in search of an escape from our daily lives. We’re looking for something to feel, something to connect to, and to be amongst similarly yearning souls that are open to the ebb and flow of this world. An ebb and flow that gets the best of us sometimes, for better or for worse… But this weekend, we tried to make it for the better, in the live music capital of the world, together. Words: Michelle Schuman Photos: Grace Dunn related: Austin Shines On: Levitation 2022 Community, that’s what Levitation has to offer. Psychedelia, in all its

JANKY SMOOTH Top 10 Shows of 2023 Rated By Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 31, 2023

Live musical entertainment is the lifeblood of Janky Smooth, that’s why we’re so blessed to be in the best concert city in all the world, bar-none. Los Angeles hosted so many of the year’s greatest bangers, it’s quite impossible to recall them all, however our contributors have compiled their top ten most incredible memories of 2023. For years to come, they will be able to say they were there in regard to so many moments that will live on much longer than the year. Whether it was Siouxsie performing in Los Angeles for the first time in decades at Cruel World, Skinny Puppy’s final shows, the return of Ladytron or Cynic or Saetia, or brand new festivals we won’t ever forget like Sick New World or Darker Waves. Take a moment to breeze through these lists and remember those shows if you were there. Publisher, Danny Baraz Siouxsie Sioux at Cruel World Iggy Pop at the Regent Obituary at the Fonda Run the Jewels playing RTJ2 at the Hollywood Palladium Angel Du$t at Echoplex Skinny Puppy at Belasco Depeche Mode at Crypto.com Arena Ladytron at Belasco Sparks at Hollywood Bowl The Adicts at Belasco Editor sometimes, Rob Shepyer System of

JANKY SMOOTH Top 10 Albums of 2023 Rated By Contributors

Janky Smooth Central Command December 31, 2023

2023 wasn’t just the year we saw many of our Janky favorites mature into their true selves, 2023 was the year these favorite bands put out the career defining material that will be pointed to years from today as the moment the band began creating the music they became iconic for. Some of these bands include groups we’ve followed for years, bands like Zulu, Spiritual Cramp, Scowl, and Angel Du$t. Yes, the hardcore scene provided the soundtrack for some of 2023’s most inspired and diverse jams, yet this was not the only underground providing the year’s best records. In the worlds of goth, synth, darkwave and beyond, artists like Model/Actriz, Madeline Goldstein, Nation of Language and Panther Modern made us dance, swoon and make-out harder than previous years. In metal, we see the same dynamism as Tomb Mold created one of the year’s most powerful and transcendent musical rollercoasters. Genre veterans Cannibal Corpse and Cavalera continued ripping, as did Liturgy, adding a new book to her musical gospel. Hip hop didn’t disappoint either with alternative and mainstream bangers galore be they the collaboration between JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown or grouptherapy’s latest brilliant record. Art pop female badasses stole the show

The Pixies at The Hollywood Bowl by Jessica Moncrief

Pixies and Modest Mouse: Clash of the Indie Titans at Hollywood Bowl

Alfredo Luna December 20, 2023

Sunday night, Sept 17th at the Hollywood Bowl was a clash of the titans, with powerhouse artists in Modest Mouse and Pixies gracing the stage and concluding their joint North American run together. The lineup had prompted many in the lots and the shuttles playing the guessing game of figuring out who each person was there to see. There was almost an even split of fans there for either Modest Mouse or Pixies, but despite the split each fan was still excited to see the other. Overheard were fans recanting the first time they ever saw either band. Stories ranging from old university lounges to small clubs across the country and down to the couple who first met at a Modest Mouse show and are now seeing them for the 20th time since then. Cat Power also played but unfortunately, I didn’t make it to the venue in time. It was my second time seeing Modest Mouse, with the last time being at the smallest venue in Riverside about 7 years ago where they ripped through a banger of a set and came back for multiple encores. So I was more or less prepared for what the Modest Mouse who would

Ladytron Reverberate The Belasco In Their Return to Los Angeles

Janky Smooth Central Command December 15, 2023

The long-awaited, electrifying and innovative live show of UK’s Ladytron finally returned to Los Angeles. Ladytron performed at Belasco Theater after their summer stop at the alt-rock “Just Like Heaven” 2023 festival. Historically still standing from LA’s silent era movie theater district, The Belasco has become the best tour stop in housing top acts in an intimate and impressive venue with plush styled lounges and an exquisite live sound. Live acts thrive here and Ladytron would prove themselves and pay tribute to that “Silent Era” history by producing an electrifying tech sound at its purest. The band’s current tour is the first in four year after a decade long hiatus. But the band hardly stood still and were busier than ever with production collaborations from Brian Eno to Christina Aguilera. Remixes were produced for a long list of artists such as Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan, Goldfrapp and Nine Inch Nails. Ladytron saw themselves with personal efforts outside of the band’s orb with singers Helen Marnie completing two solo LPs, and Mira Aroyo producing music, as well as some documentary filmmaking. The ladies’ co-conspirators/founding members Daniel Hunt and Ruben Wu are DJs and producers from Liverpool. Daniel Hunt with his expertise

Yves Tumor at The Wiltern by Sarah Dinse

Yves Tumor at The Wiltern: Living in the Abstract

Sarah Dinse November 16, 2023

Yves Tumor took the stage On October 12th at The Wiltern in Los Angeles to give us a performance as eccentric and memorable as they are. This four piece experimental rock band can hardly be tied to one genre, making their sound something we’ve never heard before. They have carefully crafted their entire brand to be so abstract and artistic so that their audience can imprint vastly different parts of themselves onto any piece. Yves Tumor is an art piece first and musician second. Yves Tumor is a specialist at guiding the imagination. Every song feels like looking through a kaleidoscope; you can see what you think the image is, but you never really know. Their lyrical way of montaging concepts into eccentric metaphors are what attract a following of abstract artists and creatives. This mixed with their ominous industrial rock sounds make all of their music sound intensely deep and intimate. A common theme throughout any Yves Tumor piece is the connection between religious subtext and everyday life. In their latest album, “Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot between Worlds)” we hear a lot of key phrases and buzzwords in the titles

Nitzer Ebb and Flow: A Night of Dance and Darkness at The Music Box

Danny Baraz November 3, 2023

Star date Saturday, Sept. 2nd, 2023… San Diego, California. Nitzer Ebb is the band. Modern.wav and Lethal Amounts are the pilots and The Music Box became the vessel for the only U.S. show scheduled this year for the British EBM/Industrial pioneers. It was perfect timing for Venus to come out of retrograde as the stars aligned to bring lost loves back into our lives. Last time I saw Nitzer Ebb was at Substance 2021 and as fun as that set was, it was missing front man Douglas McCarthey with composer and energizer bunny Bon Harris insuring the show went on. This show was a collaboration between Lethal Amounts and San Diego goth scene impresarios, Modern.wav, whose line-ups, clubs and vibes have been drawing me down to San Diego on a more regular basis over the last year. As one might imagine, Nitzer Ebb drew Angelenos down to the southern most part of California so the crowd was filled with familiar and friendly faces. related: Nitzer Front- Cold Waves 2022 at The Mayan The lineup was stacked with quality, dark music acts, bondage exhibitions and DJ’s between bands. Opening the show was synth pop group, Normal Bias. Normal Bias have a

Transgressive Transcendence at The Getty’s Latest Exhibit: William Blake: Visionary

Rob Shepyer October 27, 2023

One of Los Angeles’ most iconic cultural center’s, The Getty, has long bridged together music and art. Providing a space where classical and modern artists can inspire musicians of every age and ilk, the Getty’s latest exhibit might just have the most potential for invigorating any creative that visits that shining temple on a hill. So, if you are a creative in Los Angeles, William Blake:Visionary is a must-see exhibit. The many musicians that were inspired by William Blake all share one thing in common, a worldview that includes a higher power or a reality beyond material existence. Nihilists may find Blake intriguing but he doesn’t capture their imaginations quite like those that believe in God, destiny, or a soul. These musicians include Van Morrison, Iron Maiden, U2, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan and many more. And getting to preview the exhibit before the public, the press was treated to a playlist featuring the music of these artists while enjoying a feast and cocktails with just as much William Blake homage as the tunes. Getting to tour the new exhibit along with many of the Getty’s patrons and beloved followers, we got a glimpse into the mind and imagination of William

The Erections at Moroccan Lounge shot by Corina Cline

Erect Tricks and Loose Rails: The Erections and Hat Trickers at Moroccan Lounge

Rob Shepyer October 5, 2023

From either end of the Pacific Ocean, Nacho Corrupted is known as a punk icon, flying the flag of East Los all the way to the far east by bringing Japan’s wildest punk bands to Los Angeles for this year’s C.Y. Fest. Catching The Erections and Hat Trickers at the Moroccan Lounge is a rare treat, so street punk faithful dug through their crates to excavate that precious punk rock imported vinyl to offer up to the bands like sacrifices to be signed for the 2nd to last C.Y. Fest side show of 2023 related: Manic Japan: Death Side At The Regent The last time Hat Trickers came to Los Angeles was for a one-off side show after Manic Relapse 2019. A whole pandemic later and that band returned to even more fanfare and excitement than the previous show. The air was buzzing with punks awaiting this set, making everyone anticipate a show that would imprint itself on your memory, for better or for worse, but unquestionably for good. It was a night jam packed with punk rock and mine began seeing local punks, The Rails, wreck the stage with blasting, unhinged guitars and true to street percussive rhythms, boots

Scowl At 1720 Sell Out The Venue But Not Their Souls

Danny Ryan September 22, 2023

One of the biggest Catch 22’s of being a punk rock fan is wanting the artists you love to succeed and reach a larger audience, while also wanting them to avoid selling out and the inevitable softening of their edge that comes with popularity. While bands that maintain a consistent sound are often doomed to become dull and uninteresting after a couple of releases, there’s always a lingering fear of bringing in new audiences that don’t “get it” when an artist experiments with new aesthetics or explores other genres. Scowl and Militarie Gun have both had some of the most talked about punk releases of the year, and their recent show at 1720 proved that neither artist has sacrificed their unruly hardcore spirits in the evolution of their sounds. While tough-guy hardcore purists may be complaining online about the alternative direction that these artists have been taking, it’s clear that they haven’t witnessed the chaotic party that Scowl creates up close in-person for themselves yet and it’s only a matter of time before everybody starts to embrace the “Psychic Dance Routine”. related: Scowl Interview- Talking Limp Bizkit, Kevin Smith and Hardcore 1720 has established itself as one of the best

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