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Surfs Up: Twin Peaks And An Ocean of Crowd Surfers at The Echoplex
Janky Smooth Central Command
June 29, 2016
Last week, Chicago, Illinois’ own, Twin Peaks dove directly into an ocean of young, Los Angeles, crowd surfing music fans with an inspired performance at The Echoplex. The night began with the typical, slow and steady pace of early arrivers coming to either party or check out the opening band, Golden Daze. As the show progressed, Ne-Hi drove the early crowd into the highest of spirits with their engaging performance. When I say spirits, I mean alcoholic beverages. When I say high, I’m referring to the glasses containing the liquid infiltrating the livers of fans being raised above our heads in salute to the valiant performance of the openers. They don’t call alcoholic drinks spirits for nothing, The audience inched closer and tighter to the stage. The room was dark with only a small television turned on with white noise, static and the letters “TP” spray painted on the screen. With anticipation, fans screamed for the band and then, one by one Colin, Connor, Cadien, Jack and Clay glided onto the stage. Twin Peaks opened the show with “Butterfly” from their new album Down In Heaven, causing the first movement in the small sea of people. Hands went up, reaching out to the music, trying
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NOTHING Unhinge Echoplex Audience By Bending Sonic Waves
Rob Shepyer
June 25, 2016
My night began with loading up on free booze provided by a high end art show. After cruising through all the pretty pictures and people and pounding down as many Peroni’s as I could, I bounced out early, opting for more contact, a rush, an absorbing experience… like bathing in the shoegaze riffs of Philadelphia band, NOTHING who were playing a show at The Echoplex. Ubering out to Silverlake, trading Hollywood glitz for hipster art farts, while buzzing drunk with a dead phone, my driver turned onto Glendale blvd and crept beneath the bridge that loomed over the line of kids that stretched down the block. They stood there, marinating in the pain of missing out because they knew they weren’t getting in. Be quick or be dead. This is LA and Nothing is playing. Don’t you know Nothing sells out LA? I cruised into the Echoplex, mid set of Miami band Wrong with their heavy, alt rock sound. They put everything out on the table in this pounding communion, bouncing up and down, making the stage their bitch. The audience followed suit, jumping and jiving in a pure mess of rock. Their sound reminded me of the heavier 90’s grunge bands like
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Giant Sand at the Echo: 30 Years of American Desert Roots Alt Country Rock
Todd Anderson
June 17, 2016
“Giant Sand isn’t broken, we’re just putting it to bed after 30 years” said singer, Howe Gelb, as he launched into a hauntingly slow and ethereal set of American Desert Roots Alt Country Rock… Whatever box you need to put it in, it’s a music that borders on a psychosis of David Lynchian proportions. Giant Sand is an obvious labor of love, and boasts an impressive line up of members over the last 30 years. Not to mention a noteworthy (bad ass) cast of guest artists; including the likes of PJ Harvey, M. Ward, Neko Case, and Isobel Campbell… to name a few. I knew I was witnessing something special at The Echo when after asking for more vocals in the monitor, Howe said “I shouldn’t be singing above a whisper” as his deep smooth voice fell in with the Waltz already in progress… I don’t know too many people that can come off so unaffected while wearing an old black snakeskin suit and white cowboy hat as Gelb pulls it off effortlessly. Giant Sand’s performance took twists and turns, as drummers changed out and picked up guitars, guitar players took over vocals, and a pedal steel player appeared, disappeared,
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Sound and Fury Hardcore Festival Comes of Age All Across Los Angeles
Rob Shepyer
June 16, 2016
I am not a hardcore kid. I do love plenty of hardcore bands but I’m a metal kid that found his way to punk. So by virtue of that, what I really seek out in music is extremes and as soon as I discovered Sound and Fury, I could tell it was the most extreme 2 day fest Los Angeles offers. Sound and Fury is a home for the hardcore kids, the truest of which as Nails front man Todd Jones pointed out, come from broken homes. The west coast and east coast have constantly been trading influences since the dawning of punk and as the east coast created hardcore and nurtured it with festivals like Philadelphia’s This is Hardcore, Sound and Fury Fest became the West Coast’s rebuttal. Sound and Fury’s history was all about showcasing rising bands and staying in low key venues around Ventura County for a DIY, homely feel that would foster brutal moments of pure letting go. Now having moved to the Regent Theater as its home base, the festival is bigger than ever with a lineup that crossed every flavor of hardcore punk. I bought my ticket the moment I saw Ceremony and Nails
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Punk Rock Bowling 2016: 18 Years of Limping Las Vegas
Janky Smooth Central Command
June 9, 2016
Don’t’ let the fights fool you; Punk Rock Bowling is a pure, unabashed, hippie love fest. Anthropologists should study the dynamics of a slam pit to understand a punk in his natural habitat because there is so much love in that stew that a few fists flying could never dampen the warm feelings we have for each other. That’s what terrified parents watching expose’s on the terrors of the punk scene in the late 70’s and early 80’s never understood. A jumper on the roof of The Golden Nugget? Doesn’t matter. Sporadic loneliness and bad acid aside, It’s one of the few times a year when MOST attendees feel like they are a part of something bigger. Because under the spikes, tattoos and snarls are a group of individuals who are overflowing with sensitivity and love. They party hard. They fight hard. They dress hard and they look hard, despite the whiskey dick. For the past 18 years, Punk Rock Bowling has served the punk community during both boom and busts of the scene. When NuMetal was hammering the last nail in the coffin of the music industry, Punk Rock Bowling was being born and punks kept sticking to their
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Ty Segall And The Secret Show: A New Tradition in Los Angeles
Brent Smith
June 1, 2016
I caught wind of the secret—and free—Ty Segall and the Muggers show at the Griffin from a Mikal Cronin tweet around 10pm. It turned out being a hushed triumph for the community, the local scene—now largely represented in the hip enclave of working class L.A. artists that arches across Los Feliz, Atwater Village, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, and Mt. Washington. Luckily I don’t live too far, otherwise I would’ve just as easily succumbed to the old Angeleno proverb of “I’m staying in tonight.” I’m glad I decided to go, it provided some much needed reenergizing, and highlighted our special moment of L.A. music history. Even L.A. Weekly (that old, tired whore of a culture rag) was sage enough (however contrived) to dub Segall “L.A.’s most prolific and enigmatic rock star”—which would put him in the running for such a tag worldwide—and he doesn’t need ticket sales to prove it. I showed up to the Griffin maybe 5 or 10 minutes late, tops, sauntering to the back of a line that was definitely sizeable for a Wednesday night, and the Muggers were already wellinto their set. This was my view for a good portion of it. As it turned out, never
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Wild Nothing At The Regent: Tight Jams And Tantrums Abound
Johann A. Ramos
June 1, 2016
Wild Nothing sold out The Regent Theater in Downtown Los Angeles Friday night along side dream-pop queen Charlie Hilton on their Life Of Pause world tour. Both are very special acts with consistent demographics that have been getting a lot buzz in the media lately, particularly Wild Nothing after their new record “The Life Of Pause” (No, not the life of pablo) dropped. Frontman Jack Tatum carries a bag-full of influence with every record he puts out – krautrock, shoe gaze, post rock – not unusual for indie rock acts now a days. What sets him apart from other dream pop acts in the market (see: diiv, blouse, beach fossils, etc) is his singing versatility and his blisteringly catchy, lush, modulated guitar progressions that’ll have the crowd spending $70 on Stub Hub resold GA pit tickets. Damn you ticket scalpers! “Nocturne”, released in 2012 paved the way for many indie rockers yet to come. Charlie Hilton opened up the gig at a much slower pace than I expected and I mean that in a good way. She set the vibe of the show and chilled me out with her whispy, quiet vocals – which I appreciated because I drank one
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The Brian Jonestown Massacre Play 3 1/2 Hour Set For Night 1 at Teragram
Natalie Somekh
May 30, 2016
Sunday nights in downtown LA can be magical but particularly so when seeing ‘60s psychedelic rock outfit The Brian Jonestown Massacre is playing a gig. The band is an eclectic mixture of ‘60s British Invasion, ’80s dream pop and shoegaze, as well jangly folk thanks to Anton Newcombe’s talent to tailor-make genre-specific sounds into his own. The first night of three sold-out shows at the Teragram Ballroom consisted of organs, tambourines, and loads of sass from The Brian Jonestown Massacre percussionist, Joel Gion. Opening up for the iconic band was Los Angeles’ very own Mystic Braves, who will be embarking on a national tour with Dream Ride this September in support of their newest album Days of Yesteryear. At one point during the Mystic Braves’ set, the band invited Rob Campanella, Brian Jonestown Massacre keyboardist, to accompany them on a few songs. Definitely a crowd pleaser.The Mystic Braves have been dominating the Los Angeles music scene with their psychedelic tunes and charisma since 2011. This showed last night when Julian Ducatenzeiler (guitar & vocals), Tony Malacara (bass & vocals), Shane Stotsenberg (guitar & vocals), Cameron Gartung (drums), and Ignacio Gonzalez (organ/tambourine) effortlessly captivated the Teragram Ballroom with their psychedelic aura
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Ministry Make Ears Bleed at Punk Rock Bowling Club Show
Danny Baraz
May 27, 2016
I was on the fence about attending Punk Rock Bowling this year. It’s been 4 years in a row and when you have a wife and kids, it’s an exercise of manipulation and selfishness to leave your family every Memorial Day weekend. “Honey, but it’s work!” So as I was leaning towards a “no”, Punk Rock Bowling 2016 unveiled it’s club shows and there it was; Thursday, May 26th Ministry/Excel at the Fremont Country Club. Fuck my kids. Fuck my wife. Fuck my business and everyday life. What twisted individual thought of this lineup for a punk rock festival? A couple weeks later I found out that our friends from Death Hymn Number 9 were ALSO on the bill. “See you in a few days, kids! Daddy loves you!” In 1990, Ministry released a live album called, “In Case You Didn’t Feel Like Showing Up”. I discovered it 2 years after it was released. I was 16. To this day I consider it my favorite Ministry album and THE BEST LIVE ALBUM OF ALL TIME. On my drive out to Vegas I listened to it 2 times, all the way through. I had visions of Ministry playing this album from
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Youth Brigade: Bedlam at Punk Rock Bowling Warm Up Gig at The Echo
Taylor Wong
May 23, 2016
It’s that time of the year again. That time where all the old punks dust off their denim vests, while the new punks make sure they have all their new patches sewn on by their mom’s before they take off for Punk Rock Bowling. As condescending as that just sounded, Punk Rock Bowling was my favorite festival all of last year. I’ve never seen such unity amongst one scene. As Punk Rock Bowling approaches, as with any other out of town festival, a ton of related shows pop up in LA before the festival. One of those shows, which I was lucky enough to attend, was Youth Brigade at the Echo. Youth Brigade is made up of BYO (Better Youth Organization) and Punk Rock Bowling Founders and brothers, Mark and Shawn Stern as well as Johnny and Joey. The band originates in LA, so the sold out show at The Echo was of no surprise. Generation Suicida opened up the show. Generation Suicida is an all Latino Punk band from South LA. One great thing about this band is that the majority of their songs were sung in Spanish. I don’t know if you have paid attention in recent years,
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Family, Friends, FIDLAR: A Punk Rock Love Fest at The Observatory
Joanna Bautista
May 18, 2016
I was finally going to see FIDLAR at The Observatory for a non-festival type show and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. Disclaimer: I’m totally one of those fans with FIDLAR tattooed above my knee. I entered the Observatory in the middle of No Parents’ set surprised to see frontman, Zoe Reign with every piece of clothing still on. I think his crop-top made up for it. In past shows it was a norm for Zoe to take off a variety of clothing which was encouraged by fans. I got to say, I would totally dance with this guy. He’s got moves. This band has a great amount of minute long songs and they’ve got catchy stuff. They shouldn’t be a punk band you can just listen to in your room, they must be seen live! San Diego-surf punk band, The Frights were up next and their fan base has grown immensely since the last time I’ve saw them live. My first time seeing them was when they opened for FIDLAR at the Regent in January. There was a small crowd that knew their lyrics but now, everyone in the venue can be heard singing along. A “Fuck Trump” chant
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Rooney Rocks L.A. For The First Time in 5 Years At Teragram Ballroom
Brent Smith
May 10, 2016
The prodigal son returns. In this case, it’s Robert Schwartzman. Rooney’s comeback has gotten lots of people swooning, and the sold out album release party for Washed Away (their first album since 2010) at the Teragram Ballroom was the perfect homecoming. I arrived in the middle of Wild Wild Horses, the British foursome who made me do a double-take to make sure I wasn’t in the middle of an Axe Body Spray ad. I kid. But seriously, is boy band rock a thing? If not, these stallions are paving the way for a potentially treacherous path. Go for it, ladies, they’re there for the taking! The guitar and bassist had a pretty rad dynamic; riffs gave off electro effects, which I thought was interesting. They had me looking around the stage for any traces of digi-programmed tracks, but nothing. I don’t care who you are, making a guitar sound like anything but a guitar is never not awesome. Don’t let their squeaky clean stage persona fool you, either. They curse in cockney accents and can drink with the best of them. Deep Sea Diver from Seattle was up next, and they gave a hell of a set. Orchestrator and mastermind
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