Category: SHOWS

Home is Where the Heart is: Phoebe Bridgers at the Greek Theatre

Rob Shepyer October 26, 2021

Words by: Robert Shepyer Photos by: Nicole Busch Artists like Phoebe Bridgers reinvigorate my love of music criticism. The way Phoebe’s tenderness and vulnerability merge with her humor and authenticity makes listening to her feel better than reuniting with a familiar friend because she’s the friend we all wish we had–old and golden, her music summons up the nostalgia of growing up then helps us process the emotional complexity of the past. Having grown up in Los Angeles, real LA recognizes real LA and at these hometown shows, she gave back to the city that shaped her. related content: Community Outreach: Better Oblivion Community Center At The Observatory My first impression of the audience at the Greek was noticing they were mostly comprised of Gen Z lovers and friends, some of whom came dressed head to toe in Phoebe’s unofficial skelly uniform. You get the sense that what Phoebe is going for is making the ultimate soundtrack to suburban American trick or treating. There were a few parents chaperoning and older fans there too because Phoebe is a folk hero, who’s talents are recognized by every age group whether they see Joni Mitchell or Tracey Chapman in her. When I

Every Night is Halloween: Boys Noize at 1720

Janky Smooth Central Command October 22, 2021

Words and Video by: Michael Melnick Electro-house legend Alex Ridha; or as you know him, Boys Noize; made a pit stop at 1720 warehouse in DTLA last Friday for what would be a more intimate banger than what a DJ of his caliber might be used to playing. Needless to say, the venue was buzzing well before Alex hopped on the decks. Greeted by fans, friends, and a plethora of photographers, there was a clear consensus that 1720 was the place to be that night. Nothing like a dark, grimy warehouse with great sound and production value to compliment the performance of a legend with a cult-following and growing fanbase. related content: Love In The Time Of Covid: Baltra At Don Quixote Celebrating the release of his most recent album: +/- (pronounced Polarity), a 3 hour set of new music had a sold out crowd locked in and dancing like crazy from start to finish. Every Boys Noize performance feels special, because Alex makes them that way. There’s no better feeling than being hyped up by an artist who treats every set like it’s their last–and Boys Noize does just that. It was almost nostalgic hearing new tracks that compliment Alex’s

Photo Recap: Fuzz at the Teragram Ballroom

Janky Smooth Central Command October 15, 2021

Photos by: Grace Dunn You’ve heard of Sabbath worship but Jankysmooth is guilty of the latest craze the kids are all into, Ty worship. We brought you coverage of his last residency at Teragram only a month ago and now we bring you a photo recap of his sludge metal band Fuzz, ripping up the Teragram Ballroom along with fellow Los Angeles phenomenon, Prettiest Eyes. Fuzz Prettiest Eyes

Slowhand of the Sahara: Mdou Moctar at Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer October 7, 2021

Mdou Moctar‘s mystique is well-earned. The story of his origin is like something out of a comic book, but instead of him becoming a super hero, he merely became a ‘Guitar God’. When you read about how his rise to fame is the result of a trading network of cellphones and memory cards, you are immediately given a sense of place and global context. Had he been born in America, like many of his adoring fans that packed his two sold out nights at the Lodge Room, who knows how far his gifts would’ve taken him already. But coming from Niger and playing Tuareg guitar has made Mdou’s music not only exotic and mystical but a sort of generational upheaval, a reward for decades of struggle. related content: Dream Jams: Arooj Aftab At Lodge Room Mdou Moctar’s Desert Daze set from 2019 made him a hot ticket for the LA psychedelic scene. He sold out two shows at the Lodge Room almost immediately. Even though the Lodge Room has been selling out shows left and right, this one became a must-see show especially fast. Part of this appeal is that LA audiences know how difficult it is for an international

Photo Recap: Bob Mould at Teragram Ballroom

Janky Smooth Central Command October 6, 2021

Photos by: Albert Licano One of the innovators of American underground music, whether in alternative or hardcore circles, is Bob Mould. He recently brought his brand of beautiful noise to the Teragram Ballroom and his band jammed out hard, with a set consisting of songs from his 2020 album, Blue Hearts and his most recently released compilation, Distortion. Sprinkle in a few Husker Du classics and you have the kind of punk show that dreams are made of. Opening for Bob’s band was Moaning, an LA alternative trio off Subpop. These new school cats have kept the torch passed down to them blazing bright. Here are some awesome photos from the show: Bob Mould Moaning

Late Night Brekkie: Japanese Breakfast at the Regent

Dave Unbuckled October 5, 2021

Words and Photos by: Dave Unbuckled When Michelle Zauner took stage Saturday night at the first Japanese Breakfast show in LA since the pandemic, the frenzied crowd hurled applause that rivaled any audience I can remember at the Regent Theater. Moments later, as she hit a gong to bring in “Paprika”, the opening track from Japanese Breakfast’s new album Jubilee, the lights fluttered blue & pink and I am CERTAIN that her applause was LOUDER than any show ever held at the Regent. This was my first real indoor show since March 2020, and ironically, covering Japanese Breakfast in Holyoke, Massachusetts, was supposed to be my next assignment when the world turned off. Zauner, better known to her fans as J. brekkie, entangled the audience in an 18-song career-spanning set that featured nearly all of the tracks from Jubilee, as well as set highlights, “The Woman who Loves You”, “Heft” and “Roadhead”. It was no surprise as I watched the dominantly multi-racial crowd lock into first time LA performances of “Savage Good Boy,” “Slide Tackle” and “Be Sweet”. Jubilee is getting praise from all angles, and each of Zauner’s songs seem crafted in their own unique way. Zauner exudes joy

Dream Jams: Arooj Aftab at Lodge Room

Janky Smooth Central Command October 1, 2021

I don’t know what first compelled me to attend Arooj Aftab‘s show. I had no idea how her music sounded, I just knew I would like it somehow. It must’ve been some urge to be unique, to prove to myself my taste wasn’t basic. I always loved “world music”, whether it was old world or new but when you think about it, that genre-classification is rather reductive and othering of whole slews of artists that don’t fall under the umbrella of western music. Is the west not a part of the world? I can say though, I’m becoming a fan of Pakisani musicians because there seems to be a trend happening right now, not just with Arooj Aftab’s more classical approach but also bands like Aurat who I saw opening for King Woman at the Lodge Room in August. related content: Morning Stars Over Lodge Room: King Woman’s “Celestial Blues” Release Party There was some dreamy quality to the evening, even before the music started, the streets in Highland Park were empty and many of the most popular shops were closed. Usually, when I go to the Lodge Room, all these places are bumping with music and chatter. The Lodge

The Sound of Summer, the Fury of Fall: Fiddlehead at 1720

Rob Shepyer September 30, 2021

It’s been two years since the last Sound and Fury festival and without it, the Los Angeles hardcore scene lost its vital summer summit. The scene is still alive and strong but without Sound and Fury, it seems to be less alive, less self-aware. LAHC’s growth was stunted in a sense but now with the first Sound and Fury show since 2019 happening at 1720, the scene picked up right where it left off, with bands like Fiddlehead and Spiritual Cramp killing it as if we didn’t just lose two years of our youth. Sound and Fury was always the perfect encapsulation of youth culture and music. It illustrated the peak of summer–the sun’s heat against the downtown concrete–youthful style combinations of shorts, tattoos and band tees–easily healed bodies being destroyed in the pit only to stride out and rejoin the party as if nothing happened. So, with all these things missing for two years, it was only right that Sound and Fury returned with the catharsis of melodic post-hardcore. related content: Boston Calling: Sound And Fury 2019 I entered the building as Object of Affection was wrapping up but the tail end of their set I witnessed was riveting

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

Category: SHOWS

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