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As Real as Punk Gets: Bouncing Souls and the Bronx at the Fonda
Rob Shepyer
May 17, 2019
I have trouble thinking of a band that makes pop punk music as lasting and classic as the Bouncing Souls. Their three decades of real and romantic pop punk music, created by with the same four original members, has impacted multiple genres of punk from emo, to hardcore, to pop punk. The Bouncing Souls were always on the outskirts of the 90’s mall punk tsunami but all this time, they’ve kept a lasting, steady, and diehard following that has more devotion than the biggest bands could ever wish for. related content: Jawbreaker At Riot Fest: The Moment I Stopped Hating Pop Punk Hailing from New Brunswick, New Jersey, heritage has everything to do with the realness and low key vibe of the Bouncing Souls. Their lyrics always hit home to anyone who lives for good times with friends and hopeless romance. You can tell this band’s parents listened to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It’s almost like if Billy Joel had a punk band. These maladies could get the drunks in any down and out piano dive bar to sing all the words. To celebrate their 30 years of making punk hearts float, Bouncing Souls took their Crucial Moments
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This Stage Belongs to Amanda Palmer: There Will Be No Intermission at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Rob Shepyer
May 15, 2019
What’s the longest set you’ve seen an artist perform? Once I saw the Cure play three hours. I hear the Dead used to keep going until they were just too high. Amanda Palmer took her There Will Be No Intermission tour to the Ace Hotel and kept that stage all to herself for four and a half hours. To have that kind of endurance or even enough to share, you have to consider the stage a second home of sorts, you also have to be well versed in more than music, in Amanda’s case she is a poet, storyteller, woman, mother, feminist, survivor, mime, and warrior, and we got every one of those during this show. related content: Gothic Interiors: Cold Cave At The Ace Hotel The sort of people that came out in droves and filled the legendary Theatre at the Ace Hotel for this performance were misfits of every stripe, color, gender, and age. The stories she regaled this diverse group of diehards ranged from various parts of her life that knit together a quilt of so many moments of her life threaded tightly together by the themes of womanhood and personhood. With four and a half hours to
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Space Roses: Ionnalee at the Fonda
Rob Shepyer
May 15, 2019
Ionnalee is an international mystery, the scale of which parallels the mystery of the very cosmos in which she sings about and is clearly in sync with. It’s rare that pop music fans in America embrace a Swedish import as tightly and devoutly as they have with Jonna Lee but after seeing this futurist angel made of flesh and chrome perform live, the real mystery is how she isn’t on the top of the charts with monuments of her erected of the moon. related content: Adult. Interview: Warriors For Weird Formerly performing under the moniker, Iamamiwhoami, Ionnalee’s synth pop is polished, sweeping, danceable, vogue-able, and communicates both in sound and lyric, ideas and feelings that make you realize your insignificance existing between space and time but also your transcendence above space and time as as a soul and stars made into flesh. Ionnalee shines with star power through her skin. She takes control of every stage, dancing without pause for over an hour with moves and artistry only she can execute. She only creates the visual component of her set, projections of space, black and white Richard Avedon-esque dramatic realist imagery, science fiction, all in starkly contrast shadows and highlights.
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Sand in my Sax: Back to the Beach Festival
Dave Unbuckled
May 13, 2019
I voluntarily didn’t arrive to Saturday’s show until minutes before Reel Big Fish took the stage at around 4:00, which gave me plenty of time around town to observe the legions of bat wielding ANTI-FA members, as well as the brigades of MAGA hat wearing Trump supporters, that had gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier. I still haven’t found out if this was some coincidence or planned meet up or perhaps if some Ska against Racism club just showed up early with bandanas and baseball bats to walk around town, before going to skank to their favorite band. Regardless, the crowd inside seemed arguably worse, and considerably goofier than I had anticipated, but I suppose this should be expected when three of the four festival headliners (Aquabats, Reel Big Fish and Goldfinger) were nineties-era ska bands who’s music was more prevalent in between Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows than they were on Punk Comps. related content: Offspring In The Air: Sabroso Taco & Music Fest I shamefully grew up listening to Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish and Blink 182. They were my gateway drugs into the underground as I entered adolescence, and YES there was a time in the mid-nineties, outside of
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Doom in Paradise: Psycho Smokeout at Catch One
Dillon Vaughn
May 11, 2019
Nearly two years ago Psycho Entertainment began teasing the return of Psycho California – the fest that ran its initial three years proving itself and building its reputation in Orange County before being taken away from us by Sin City. Despite the slight name change, the fresh presentation of the inaugural Psycho Smokeout lived up to the reputation of its predecessor with a streamlined experience and highly curated lineup of Psycho alumni and first timers alike. related content: Catch One Hell Of A Night With Integrity And Pageninetynine Presented By Psycho Entertainment With a lineup filled with Janky favorites it’s hard to decide where to begin. The stacked scheduling fueled a rush through the maze-like floorplan of Union granting access to rooms and passageways I’d never even known existed. Each twist and turn through black painted halls seemed to bring me to another section of the club where something insane was happening: three separate rooms with live music (one of which included pole dancers), a smaller room with burlesque shows, live glass blowing outside, walls of merch, and a corner devoted to Painkiller Kim DJing next to an (unfortunately out of order) Icee machine. (Apparently the Icee guy never arrived
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Real Horror Show: Hat Trickers and Lower Class Brats at the Bootleg Theater
Rob Shepyer
May 10, 2019
Welcome my brothers, to a gathering of Clockwork soldiers, the likes of which you’ve never seen. Among us were Adicts, Brats, and Trickers, all in for a smattering of the good ol’ ultra violence. Manic Relapse gave the West Coast a first taste of the moloko plus but it was only a few days later that Los Angeles got their fix, oh yes we did, my brothers. related content: Manic Japan: Death Side At The Regent Hat Trickers and Lower Class Brats sharing a stage at the Bootleg Theater is what droog dreams are made of. Even Monkee from the Adicts was in attendance for this horror show. Hat Trickers, all the way from Japan, are the East’s premiere Clockwork Orange inspired horror punk band. Their songs are reckless, violent, and anthemic and could lead a young man on the streets of futurist London to commit all sorts of atrocities in the name of youth, ennui, and chasing happiness. Of all the band’s that play with that movie’s aesthetics, I’d expect Hat Trickers would be Alex’s favorite. All lineup long, true punk brethren let their lights shine with some of the most visceral and in your face punk rock you
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Manic Japan: Death Side at the Regent
Rob Shepyer
May 9, 2019
The last great punk festival on America’s West Coast, Manic Relapse was in season and so, the bands that were booked to play this year’s wild, raucous Oakland rager made the rounds along the coast and wound up in Los Angeles. In the case of the festival’s headliner, Japanese hardcore punk legends, Death Side, were set to play the Regent theater for their very first Los Angeles appearance. I’ve seen almost every kind of festival under the sun but have yet to attend the madness of Manic Relapse. From what I can tell though, it’s perhaps the most special, eye-opening weekend any punk can attend. It probably changes everything you think is possible at a music festival, whether it’s anarchy in a skate park, rare bands from exotic countries performing, or completely unhinged crowds at the Oakland Metro or backyards, there’s nothing else like Manic Relapse. related content: Beast From The East: Sand At Toxic Toast Theatre Combining forces with Manic Relapse, the likes of Spaceland, 84, and Suburban Fight joined together to bring us this amazing lineup beginning with Los Angeles’ own, Hate Preachers. This pack of West Coast wolves delivers a serrated and grimy variety of punk in
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Take This: Win Two Tickets To The Voidz at The OC Observatory
Janky Smooth Central Command
May 1, 2019
Before Julian Casablancas reunites The Strokes at the Wiltern or Ohana Fest, there’s time for one more Voidz show at The Observatory and we’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to everyone’s favorite garage rock heart throb. Beardo and the rest of the gang will be there too. YOU CAN BUY TICKETS HERE OR. ENTER TO WIN 2 TICKETS TO THE VOIDZ MAY 5TH AT THE OC OBSERVATORY Step 1- Join Our Newsletter (look for pop up every time you arrive at jankysmooth.com) Step 2- Tag a Friend in the comment section of our Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Voidz Posts WINNER WILL BE WILL BE SELECTED ON SATURDAY MAY 4TH AT 11AM PST VIA EMAIL CONFIRMATION
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Wax Trax and Vans Present Ministry and Cold Cave at Teragram
Rob Shepyer
April 30, 2019
The impact of Wax Trax! Records cannot be understated. Without this small, independent Chicago-based record label, dance music as we know it would be a very different entity. To celebrate the record label’s legacy and Industrial music in general (the genre can’t be divorced from the label), Vans threw a special documentary screening of Industrial Accident, speaking panel, and concert, featuring the landmark of the record label, Ministry, playing an old school set at the Teragram Ballroom. related content: Front 242 And Severed Heads Bring Classic Industrial To The Regent Theater I highly recommend Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records to any fan of rock docs or music films, not only does it give you a very human, personal peek into the label’s history, beginning as a Denver based record store then moving to Chicago and becoming an indie label to be reckoned with but it also introduces you to so much music, from Al Jourgensen’s side projects like Pailhead with Ian Mackaye or all the great European acts that jumped onto Wax Trax! for distribution in the states, from Front 242 to Laibach. The documentary’s protagonists, owners and life partners, Jim Nash and Dannie Flesher, present a heart warming
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Catch One Hell of a Night With Integrity and Pageninetynine Presented by Psycho Entertainment
Rob Shepyer
April 29, 2019
This night at Catch One was easily one of the most extreme, craziest nights of music that will occur in 2019. The entire night, every room at Catch One was booked to perfection with diverse bands going on in time slots that allowed you to catch every flavor of heavy music if you had the right credentials, which was the case for me. Jesus fucking Christ, I got to see Integrity and Pageninetynine in the same damn night. It was one for the history books. I had been waiting to see Integrity live for years, bitching and moaning on their social media pages for them to play Los Angeles. Leave it to Psycho Entertainment not only to make my dreams come true but exceed my expectations with a lineup that featured amazing bands that would each draw me to a show if it was just them playing. They weren’t the only promoters that made this night happen though, this shit was so insane that Midnite Collective and Church of the 8th Day had their hands in the pot too. related content: Midnite Communion V: Los Globos Doom Spa With Bongzilla And Bongripper My night began with Graf Orlock, the perfect
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Roxy got her Nails Done With Leikeli47
Rob Shepyer
April 29, 2019
How do you expect a rapper to look? Leikeli47 hides her face underneath a bandana mask to make you ask this question and never receive an answer. Breaking the mold of expectations, her outside the box appearance, flow, and lyricism brings together every other kind of person that may consider themselves outside the box too, for a musical experience that is more inclusive and real than any rappers in the game right now. related content: Our Funny Valentine: Oliver Tree At The Roxy Her second full-length album, 2018’s Acrylics features songs that empower black women with lyrics about simple topics that audiences can relate to whether they be on “Money” or “Girl Blunt”. Topics like camaraderie or daily survival. Her must-see tour landed in Los Angeles for a show at the Roxy and it was as fun, energetic, and diverse as a show can possibly be. Beginning the evening’s music was the soulful vocals of JAMESDAVIS, a sibling band of brother and twin sisters. This family exhibits classic talent with passionate delivery and songs about positivity that can help you get through the bad but also praise the good. Their music connected the audience to a kind of R&B and
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84 Ways to Die: Horrendous at the Echo
Dillon Vaughn
April 28, 2019
Eighty-Four has quickly become a brand indicating quality booking of local, national, and international acts alike and the recent Horrendous + Of Feather and Bone mini-tour kickoff at the Echo showed no signs of that changing any time soon. Local support acts for the evening were some of LA’s top up and coming underground acts including the buzz-worthy Mortal Wound, mean as hell two piece Encoffinized, and the pummeling rifflords Kommand. Of Feather and Bone are an excellent introduction to the Denver scene and a perfect example of the difference in style between the mile high city and LA. Their set at the Echo was concise and crushing: a clear result of a well refined act marking their place by giving the uninitiated a no holds barred beating. In a genre so focused on being the most extreme, bands like Horrendous stand out as a breath of fresh air. There’s a clear progression in style and complexity in their recorded material that’s allowed them to reach their current pinnacle with 2018’s Idol. In a live setting the songs are fully realized with an added layer of infections excitement; it’s clear they’re truly having fun performing. Without a doubt these guys are
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