Category: SHOWS

Jonny Cat Cancer Benefit at Alex’s Bar: Punk Rock, Love & Compassion

Jonathan Reyes July 26, 2017

It’s hard making fun of something when that thing revolves around someone dying of cancer but all my friends know me to pick the lowest hanging fruit so here we go. I’ll present this as half review and half roast. “Didn’t this show already happen 15 years ago?” A fair point from the man in the band playing surf rock in animal masks in 2017. Another good point he made was why a bar would have a curtain behind the band. There was definitely a feeling like this was a fire that had been diminished but relit for a honorable cause: Trying to Save Jonny Cat from cancer. I wasn’t familiar with Jonny Harbin aka Jonny Cat but the effort being displayed by his loved ones made the night feel like paying for a PBR was a noble act. Jonny is based out of Portland’s music scene. His most notable band being Cyclops before starting Jonny Cat Records, putting out records of local PDX bands. Plenty of people do the same but from talking to his friends and learning about him, I believe he stands out in the crowd. RELATED CONTENT: IN THE RED RECORDS’ 25TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY: WEEKEND AT

Model/Actriz at The Hi Hat by Cameron Pagett

The Next Wave of Sound: Girl Pusher & Model/Actriz at The Hi Hat

Danny Baraz July 21, 2017

Great things happen when you’re motivated to support and be of service to your fellow wo/man. When Julian and Luis of Penniback Records asked that I come to The Hi Hat to check out their new band, Matter Room this past Sunday, I felt the need to move the obstacles which stood in the way of my attendance to their show. God damn was I rewarded for that. I was rewarded by seeing two bands I had yet to see live- Girl Pusher and Model/Actriz. I had no idea what to expect from any of these bands and I LOVE that. Kind of like seeing a movie and never having seen the trailer. My brain is on some kind of default because I seem to always assume that new bands are part of the never ending psych/garage rock revival that seems to be happening in every city in the world right now. It’s not that I’m sick of the psych- it’s that I’m less interested in things that are predictable and formulaic. So many people create or consume art based on what’s popular or common and I’m always looking for the uncommon. Example: Meatbodies first album = unpredictable

Thou Demonstrate The Blackest Doom At The Echo For FYF Club Show

Rob Shepyer July 18, 2017

Doom metal only keeps evolving and engrossing the current metal scene, drowning all the lesser genres in the tar pit of its sound and forcing the future icon bands to rise up to the surface. Thou are the inheritors of Louisiana’s rich sludge-metal heritage and they take that sound to a place no doom band has ever taken it before. With ten minute songs that feel like hell itself, Thou blends doom and black metal into a sound that brings together doom and stoner fans, black metal fans, noise fans, and grindcore fans. When a promoter like FYF Presents gives you the blessing of playing a show under their banner, you know you’re part of a brewing musical storm, if not the whole storm. But for a band as brutal and against the grain as Thou to be awarded that blessing at The Echo just 5 days before their annual festival, it’s indicative of how mainstream tastes are being pushed into a very extreme corner and FYF, at the center of it all has helped to move the status quo- even while being criticized for softening and being “less punk” themselves in the way that they book the festival. Poppycock.

Burger Boogaloo 2017: The Ballad of John and Iggy

Rob Shepyer July 10, 2017

This Burger Boogaloo 2017 review is X-rated, so if your kids are reading it, Janky Smooth apologizes if they develop a foot fetish. Like your baby sister’s pretty pink switchblade, the marriage of legendary filmmaker and filth peddler, John Waters and atomic boy, Iggy Pop, cut the Bay Area deep till it bled out all the outlaws, shrimp pimps, gamblers, hipsters, hippies, hyphys, crust punks, trust-fund punks, rockabillies, rockabetties, and freakazoids to gather at Burger Boogaloo 2017 at Mosswood Park. Two whole beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on an acid infused bun. The trip up the 5 freeway was long and arduous but upon entering the burger’s third eye vortex, the camaraderie of San Francis-folk mellowed me out as straight as a noodle. That’s just how us So-Cal kids see Bay Area babies: hella mellow. This year, the festival’s theme was Shrimpin’ which is fiend’s slang for toe sucking. Four giant legs kicking up from the stage to the sky were inflated behind the Gone Shrimpin’ stage, which became the alter of our collective foot worship. I’m talking about high heels and low-life, sweaty soles and pedicured puppies. related content: Burger Boogaloo 2016- Bringing Rare Vinyl Back To

1Fest-Los Angeles at Los Globos: Noise As Music As Force Is Farce

Rob Shepyer July 8, 2017

In my quest for mind expansion through live musical experience, I’ve been fortunate enough to write about festivals that I might not have cared to attend If I was just a casual music fan. This was the case for Berserktown, 8BitLA, and now 1Fest: Los Angeles. I’ve learned that taking a risk and just diving into a genre of music without prior knowledge usually only reaps joyful reward. Absorbing too much musical diversity has its drawbacks, though. The mind can expand so much that the brain might start pressing against the inside of the skull and adapt by developing a sort of exo-skeleton, a crust. Brain crust. related content: The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth Crust punk and Grindcore- Two genres birthed out of the aesthetics of British Anarchist punk OG’s Crass. Grindcore was first conceptualized by Napalm Death as half political dissidence and half musical farce, with songs that only lasted seconds and little care for actually singing the lyrics live. Grindcore, although as separate from mainstream heavy music as possible, is still thriving and alive because Grindcore is not simply a musical genre but a challenge. It is a challenge to any band to see

Quintron & Miss Pussycat Break From The Traditional At Ebell Club

Jonathan Reyes July 8, 2017

Driving up to Highland Park from Long Beach, the first thing I noticed was that all-day parking was only 2 bucks. Scored points for that but lost the game when I had to park next to a guy who’s car was covered in foil and hubcaps. I hate guys like that, who’s whole personality is tied to their car. It’s like he put anything interesting about him on his car and now we have to pretend it’s nice. Walking up to The Highland Park Ebell Club, I saw old friends and now friendly competition, Cool Tite‘s Sergio and Crystal. Shout out to them. Also spotted Vice Cooler, who if you don’t know, you’re fucking up majorly because he’s so fucking original and talented, I once saw him ride a guitar on stage. I caught Feels and I’m always like why don’t I watch them more often. They never disappoint and they also remind me of like Making The Band because they all seem different from each other but also really good friends. related content: New Album Review: 1 Week With Feels Debut LP From Castle Face Records Two years ago I saw Quintron for the first time performing with his

Black Lips Vandalize L.A. w/ Satan’s Graffiti at The Regent Theater

Danny Baraz July 6, 2017

Yes, your favorite garage rockin’, junked out beatniks, the Black Lips have a new album and are currently on tour. And just like the many indie anti-hero demi-gods that have gone before them, they have their eyes on the prize of scaling their operations onto the tape and record players and bluetooth audio speakers of music civilians that don’t take this shit as seriously as some of us do. You know, the ones that send you into the largely undefined, next level of this nebulous blob forming in the place where the music industry used to be. So, because of my deep affection for the bad kid rockers and the fact that I don’t hate their latest album, Satan’s Graffiti or God’s Art? like I’ve heard from a handful of Black Lips purists upon it’s release, the most important task for determining it’s value to my music portfolio was to see them do it live… besides, maybe Yoko Ono would show up at The Regent Theater as a guest to perform on the song she’s featured on the new album her son Sean produced, “Occidental Front”… related content: Snapshot Of A New Music Industry- White Fang, No Parents & The

Drab Majesty Return to Los Angeles After Taking Europe By Storm

Rob Shepyer July 1, 2017

The buzz surrounding LA’s own Drab Majesty peaked and cemented the band as more than just an underground attraction- this buzz has evolved into downright success. We here at Janky Smooth listed them as one of the bands to watch in 2017 and boy, it feels smooth as silk to be right. Sometime during their American and European tours opening for Cold Cave, it became apparent that this goth duo was a premier group, destined to surpass Cold Cave musically. I believe the band’s homecoming Echoplex show was the beginning of the Drab Majesty era. Even by the first band, Chasms, people came flocking into the show with an impressive early turn out. Originally from San Francisco and now based in Los Angeles, Chasms plays ambient-gaze with guitar riffs that make you measure the depth of your soul with each stroke. Their drum machine sounds like a hammer slamming upon steel but their vocals sound like a soothing siren, luring you into the abyss. Chasms has become a go-to opener for any big gaze or goth act because they set the tone very punctually, there’s no escaping introspection after a Chasms set. After a cig or two and a glass

High-Functioning Flesh “Culture Cut” Release Party at Echoplex

Rob Shepyer June 28, 2017

For every genre, there is a right sound. A band’s music and vocal style have to marry each other in a familiar, yet original way to occupy the space in the ether that has always been waiting for them. High-Functioning Flesh captures the right industrial sound for 2017. Susan Subtract’s coarse vocal tone harkens back greats like Al Jourgensen and Nivek Ohgr, while Greg Vont’s music does the same with both singers’ respective bands. The difference is, High-Functioning Flesh uses highly danceable rhythms and melodies to make classic industrial sound new and fresh. If you listen to Ministry’s Twitch or any Skinny Puppy albums before Last Rights, you’ll find plenty of gems but only a few songs that could really hold their own on a mainstream dance floor. Meanwhile, every song on High-Functioning Flesh’s third and new album, Culture Cut, can pull any person onto a dance floor. I first discovered High-Functioning Flesh after seeing an Instagram video posted by Blaque Chris featuring the band headlining a Planned Parenthood benefit. The band’s compassion towards women and trans rights is just as pronounced as their music. After that, I made sure to check them out at Lethal Amounts’ Sado Maso Disco

The Most Complete Sound And Fury 2017 Review On Earth

Rob Shepyer June 26, 2017

Sound and Fury Festival is one big happy hardcore family and like any family, we like to fight but it’s only out of love. Artists and fans traveled from far and wide, from inside the USA and beyond, to join together and form an unbreakable bond for four days around hardcore music. The unity we shared was stronger than any of the things that divide people outside this scene’s little bubble. We might seem crazed for jumping off stages and swinging our fists and slamming our bodies into one another but the world-at-large can learn a thing or two from us. We can be the example-setters for brotherhood and sisterhood. When I call Sound and Fury a family, I mean the artists and the audience alike. That title is earned by the festival’s participants with three key factors: 1. Artists, usually ones under the same record label, will play in other bands throughout the whole festival. So, you’ll see Todd Jones and the festival’s organizer Martin, playing guitars with Terror; or you’ll see Brendan Yates playing guitar with Angel Du$t; or Taylor Young from Nails drumming for Criminal Instinct or playing guitar for Eyes of the Lord. Then you’ll also

Becky Brings French Vanilla, The Vivids & More to Acerogami in Pomona

Janky Smooth Central Command June 22, 2017

A Friday night coupled with a stacked show at Acerogami in Pomona is always a good thing. The vibe is always chill; comfy couches and a super clean lounge area are usually a turn off for me, especially at a “punk” show. But somehow, Acerogami pulled it off without so much as a raised eyebrow. Could have something to do with the line-up for the evening- Hawaiian T-shirt, Sister Mantos, The Vivids and French Vanilla, a highly anticipated show by the many lovers of the LA post punk scene. First up on the four band bill was Hawaiian T-shirt, a recent post punk addition to the local band mix. New to my ears in the past few weeks, I instantly liked them and have been failing at catching them live at one of the many shows they’ve been playing. This was my lucky night. The trio of Ana (vox & guitar), Jeremiah (vox & bass) and Tara (drums) fire off songs that parallel Gang of Four, Pixies and others while keeping their own unique sound. Just enough rawness to keep it tangy with angry lyrics to keep you intrigued on what’s coming out next. They have an EP up on Bandcamp (linked

Learning New Words Like Zorched w/ Wild Wing & Surfbort is Lit AF

Jonathan Reyes June 20, 2017

I know I’m getting old when I see posters with words I don’t know. I saw a poster for Zorched LA from LowNSlow DIY and I was like, do I “get Zorched” or do I just start calling things Zorched the way I do with lit? I also didn’t know where it was so I started thinking how not L.A. I’d become. I parked and ate at Yoshinoya because I like that stringy meat they sell and noticed some teens in the current alt punk fashion of short pants and so ironic it’s not ironic tees. I followed them into a dreary looking building and this is what I saw and/or heard… I legit heard a kid say “I hope no one sees that I’m wearing a USC shirt” then he pulled out the $20 bill his parents gave him to go to the show. Win 2 Tickets, Vinyl & Other Band Merch for Dirty Penni Fest w/ The Shrine, Deap Vally & MORE Denim Skull – Kinda sounded like if Animal from the Muppets fronted Pissed Jeans. It reminds me of when I’m angry and I want to start a band to yell about things but I don’t flesh