Category: SHOWS

Overdose on Dance: Kelly Lee Owens at Lodge Room

Janky Smooth Central Command September 29, 2021

Words by: Rebecca Cuellar Photos by: Manuel Arredondo Listening to Kelly Lee Owens on record, I put her in this box of minimalist, electronica that borders on ambient. Yet, I got this vague sense that I was only hearing half the picture, that there’s much more to KLO I could only know seeing her perform. This turned out to be true because in-concert, her music tickles every serotonin receptor in your brain to send all that joy juice shooting into every limb so you can dance with complete abandon. This is exactly the phenomenon I witnessed and took part in during her first of two sold out shows at the Lodge Room. The night hosted two ambient openers to center everyone and tranquilize them enough that their third eyes could voluntarily blossom, instead of pry, open. The first of these artists was Olive Kimoto, a genius who’s neon hair complements the vibrant life inside her heavenly vocals and music. The tones she summoned from the direct connection she fosters between heart and voice held within them a deep emotional range that spoke to the audience in various vague hints of love, passion, joy and reverie. This coupled with the trippiest

Love in the Time of Covid: Baltra at Don Quixote

Danny Baraz September 24, 2021

It seems like nothing can stop humanity’s innate compulsion to connect, to converge, to coalesce. Nothing has solidified this to me more than those of us that did so the Friday night of August 6th 2021 at Don Quixote to do the Delta variant dance for Minty Boi’s presentation of Baltra. The masked, unmasked, vaxxed and un-vaxxed came together as one writhing, collective consciousness in the midst of the polarization found on any platform that sends and/or receives a signal. This “new normal” gives people watching an entire pre-programmed context that has taken on new dimensions since the global pandemic began. One thing was clear the moment I walked into the missionary-esque celebration hall known as Don Quixote while Miley Serious were throwing down her set: People were ready to de-program, de-contextualize and connect with others or even better still, with themselves. With the lockdown of live, non-streaming music looming on the horizon once again, people hurled themselves onto the dance floor with reckless abandon- and at each other. French DJ and 99cts Records label owner, Miley Serious threw down a high energy, set of electro-magnetic music that moved the collective. Breakdowns were aplenty and beat drops were always

Ty in Morning, Ty in the Evening: Ty Segall at Teragram Ballroom

Danny Baraz September 22, 2021

Words by: Danny Baraz Photos by: Albert Licano On Monday night, Sept 13th, I went to see night 3 of 4 of Ty Segall’s stand at The Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles. Monday day I skated up to the Venice Skatepark, blasting Ty Segall on my Bluetooth speaker, and ran into… Ty Segall. WTF? What can we at Janky Smooth say about Ty Segall that myself and many other contributors haven’t said before? How about this- Ty Segall and his incredible band of wizards spanned their entire, lengthy set list, didn’t play one song that I absolutely “had to hear” and it was still one of the best shows I’ve seen in while. Forget the songs- just the intro to songs, the spatial feedback vibrating the perfect acoustics of the Teragram Ballroom and everyone in it were enough of a show on their own. No small feat for a song writer. But Ty Segall dispels the myth that I’ve heard many espouse, that good song writers aren’t usually prodigious musicians, into the recycle bin of conventional wisdom. Ty’s latest studio effort, “Harmonizer” was touted as a surprise album but how could it surprise anyone who has followed his massive catalog

Photo Recap: Rotting Out at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command September 21, 2021

Photos by: Albert Licano Rotting Out held their highly-anticipated album release party for Ronin at Chain Reaction but a few days later, they stopped by 1720 to bring the party to Los Angeles. This wasn’t just about celebrating Ronin though, this was a tribute to Power Trip singer Riley Gale, who never got a proper live goodbye in Los Angeles after tragically losing his life in 2020. Rotting Out brought so much power and excitement along with Dead Heat and the rest of the openers. These photos are completely off the wall. Rotting Out Dead Heat Section H8 Frostbite Pull Your Card Law of Power

Time is an Illusion: The Circle Jerks at Pappy and Harriet’s

Danny Baraz September 9, 2021

When you think of punk rock you don’t automatically think of Pioneertown, California or Pappy and Harriet’s–at least, you didn’t until Sunday night when the Circle Jerks played their first gig in over a decade, supported by Negative Approach. related content: Keith Morris Speaks Freely On Lawsuits, Politics & Punk Rock It was a new moon in the Yucca Valley. There was a translucent, blue glow on the edges of the horizon when I pulled up to Pappy and Harriet’s at dusk. Seemingly a few moments later, the sky was dark and you could see the edges of the galaxy in the night sky. I could almost make out the ghosts of Darby Crash and GG Allin in the distance, floating up above us like Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. What a setting for Keith Morris, Greg Hetson, Zander Schloss and the latest addition to The Circle Jerks-the hard hitting, perfectly metered percussive Jedi Master, Joey Castillo. The buildup to this show was palpable. Not only had it been over 10 years since the Circle Jerks played a show but up until recently, it had been awhile since ANYONE had played a show. This reunion was scheduled for 2020 but

This Ain’t No Reset, It’s A Misdirect: An Evening With Between The Buried And Me At Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer September 6, 2021

Sometimes I go to concerts without knowing anything about the band I’m about to see. In the case of Between the Buried and Me, I knew they were a prog band but because of the time they grew in popularity, part of me lumped them into the metalcore side of the New Wave of American Metal. On my drive to the Teragram Ballroom, where the band was hosting an “Evening With” concert, I treated myself to a listen of their 2021 release, Colors II, which I fell in love with very quickly. I almost felt a sense of shame having not delved into BTBAM until that moment. This album was the sequel to what is widely considered their most important record, 2007’s Colors. Although this album would be touched upon in the first part of BTBAM’s set tonight, the 2nd half of the evening would be devoted to their album after, 2009’s The Great Misdirect. related content: When A Band’s Lyrics Become Real: Megadeth At Fivepoint Amphitheatre The Great Misdirect seemed like a rather esoteric choice to play from start to finish to many in the audience. There is so much going on thematically, lyrically and musically in that record, that you could spend

When A Band’s Lyrics Become Real: Megadeth at Fivepoint Amphitheatre

Rob Shepyer September 5, 2021

I wanted a headline that didn’t beat around the bush. In a world where politics and corruption are the biggest dialogues of the day but people are still subjected to constant propaganda, the lyrics of Megadeth seem uncannily relevant and useful. When you hear the opening verse of “Symphony of Destruction”, you know exactly what Dave Mustaine means when he says “You take a mortal man and put him in control, watch him become a God, what people’s heads a-roll.” Our leadership class are men with competing God complexes and people die every fucking day as a result of their decadent decision-making. This tour was hailed as the biggest metal tour of the year with Hatebreed, Trivium and Lamb of God opening the show. Because we were commuting from Los Angeles and the show started early, we missed Hatebreed and the majority of Trivium, the latter I wanted to see purely out of curiosity to know if they should be lumped in with every other metalcore or New Wave of American metal band that danced with the scene/emo movement in the early 2000’s. Many of these bands don’t deserve this label and the reflexive snobbery against them, Trivium however, probably

Croons and Growls at the Greek Theatre with Future Islands

Janky Smooth Central Command September 4, 2021

Words and Photos by: Justin Scholz Whether you’re ready or not, live shows are (generally) back. Although there is ongoing daily uncertainty of how long this pandemic will last, with more and more cancellations creeping up, being back in the thick of it brought a strange mix of comfort and anxiety. Strangely enough, the comfort came from the inane banter of a crowd that just wanna get back into feeling good, and dare I say, normal. Future Islands is just the band to welcome you with open arms and make sure you know that things will be better. related content: King Crimsons At The Greek: Prog Prophets Of A Schizoid 21st Century The minimalistic angular backdrop and singular pedestal for the band left a long, wide runway for Sam Herring to display his signature non-stop aerobic dancing. Rockettes style kicking and solo mosh-pitting keeps a smile on everyone’s face through the entirety of every song and even in-between. Couple that with vocals that run the gamut of guttural growling to powerful crooning about love gained, sought, or lost, everyone delved into feelings they never knew they had. At no time during the 1-1/2 hour set was there space to wonder

A Comprehensive Guide to Glowing On: Turnstile at Garden Amp and OPAC

Rob Shepyer September 3, 2021

Words by: Rob Shepyer Photos at Garden Amp by: Dillon Vaughn Photos at OPAC by: Taylor Wong For my money, Turnstile‘s latest album, Glow On, has more PMA than any hardcore record ever released. Beating out Hara Krishna and Rastafarian hardcore bands to achieve some kind of secular, light-hearted connection to “the supreme” and win this medal I’ve made-up, Turnstile brought their tribe out to Garden Amp and OPAC for two shows that will go down in LAHC history. With the band making recent headlines for the craziness of their stage show, rest assured, although there wasn’t any human fecal matter on the stage for either of these efforts, fans certainly went ape-shit at these certified shit-shows. related content: For Every Season Turn, Turn, Turn: Turnover And Turnstile At El Rey The album was released song by song until almost half the tracks came out as singles. One by one, we realized this was an evolution of the band’s sound and vibe. Songs like “Holiday” and “Blackout” felt like elevated but classic Turnstile while songs like “Alien Love Call” and “Underwater Boi” gave us a taste of a Turnstile moving into the realm of alternative indie music. It’s a very

Trash as a Virtue: Surfbort at the Lodge Room

Danny Baraz August 31, 2021

Dani Miller, lead singer of the band Surfbort walked along the line to admit ticket holders into the Lodge Room moments before the doors opened and the words, “Rainbow Vampires” flashed in my mind. She walked the length of the line, glowing with gratitude, admiring and complimenting people’s mullets, liberty spikes and band t-shirts. A seemingly accidental but extremely willing ambassador to an underground garage/trash punk music scene that lives in venues, on vinyl and is powered by the internet. related content: Surfbort Shake-Up Dave’s Shit Show At Resident This was my second time seeing Surfbort. I knew what to expect and I was excited to see it at the Lodge Room. Not only did Surfbort exceed every expectation with a powerfully energetic, command performance but every band on the bill was well rehearsed and the energy in the room was kinetic, cathartic and joyful. First up was was Shamon Cassette, a departure from the punk vibes of the rest of the evening…or was it? The eccentric MC vibes of Shamon Cassette smacked of Kool Keith/Dr Octagon, both in vocal cadence and eccentricity. The band was more difficult to pigeonhole but no less formidable. People who came to slam dance began

Italians Do Actually Do It Better: Glüme at DNA Lounge

Janky Smooth Central Command August 27, 2021

Words by: Gloria Velez Photos by: Raymond Ahner Indie label Italians Do It Better, famously known for their artists Glass Candy and Chromatics, which also got its name from the T-shirt Madonna wore in the “Papa don’t preach” video, hit the road in support of their newest talent, Glüme, with fellow record label acts, Orion and Desire (Dj set). San Francisco had the honor of being the second day out of this 3 day “Italians Do It Better” tour with this stellar lineup from the famed Synth-pop/Italo disco label. To circle back on the Madonna sound bite, “Italians Do It Better” have release their latest compilation, a tribute album of Madonna covers executive produced by the master mind and owner of Italians Do It Better, Johnny Jewel. In true celebration of the queen of pop, the label dropped their tribute compilation on the Material Girl’s birthday, August 16th, right at midnight on the night of this San Francisco show. related content: Technically, We’ve Always Been Sick: Sex Cells Returns To The Globe Theatre First up was a DJ set by Italians Do It Better sweetheart, Megan Louise of Desire. Desire is famously known for their track “Under Your Spell” featured in the

Irvine Rising: Rise Against and Descendents at Five Point Amphitheatre

Taylor Wong August 27, 2021

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything and that’s not due to the pandemic. I’ve mostly been staying behind the camera and keeping my judgement to myself. I’ve come to realize ‘who the fuck am I to say anything negative about a band when I can’t play a god damn thing?’ So anyways, I went down to Irvine. Let me tell you, even without traffic that’s a long drive if you live in LA. Unfortunately, this was the closest stop on the Rise Against and Descendents tour. Seriously though, it’s far. You get to Disneyland and then you’re all like, “oh, I got another 30 minutes left to drive”. The Menzingers opened the show right on time at 7:30. What an amazing band to have as an opener. They all played with giant smiles on their faces. The venue was filling in pretty decently before they played so clearly people were there to see The Menzingers. A small break between sets and then came Descendents. Milo cruised out on a bicycle with a camel pack around his shoulder. Some one asked me if Milo had an oxygen tank and that cracked me up. Descendents are one of

Category: SHOWS

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